The Beasts of the Leaf
by moonraven16
Summary: 18 years after the 4th War. Naruto Uzumaki, the 7th Hokage, is in a coma, the Beasts he befriended and freed are destroying the Shinobi World, & someone is manipulating everyone's memories. Ryuu Uchiha, the youngest son of Hinata and Sasuke, is a freak with two different Kekki Genkai. Befriending a little Hyuuga with a secret, the two might save their world? [AU] M for Safety
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

"PLEASE! My baby, give me back my baby!" The scream was high pitched and shrill enough to make ears bleed. The woman's chest heaved up and down as tears ran like rivers down her face, snot drizzled down her nose and lips as she let out another broken sob. "You cannot do this, not to my baby. Please, please, please she hasn't done anything wrong." The mother's plea fell on deaf ears as a tall man stood several feet in front of her holding her precious little girl.

Both of the mother's arms were grasped by two individuals wearing masks that resembled the faces of animals, each arm was held gently yet firmly behind her back. As the sobs grew stronger and plead louder, two eyelids fluttered opened revealing irises the lightest shade lavender had to offer with unseen pupils. The young child blinked her eyes as her lips slipped upwards in a sleepy little smile full of innocence. It faltered just an inch when the cries finally reached her ears, the child slowly shifted around in the man's arm and looked over his broad shoulder to find the source of the noise.

"You promised she wouldn't cry. " The silvery and airy voice was merely whisper compared to the sounds coming from her mother.

The man who held her let out a low hum of acknowledgment before setting the child on her bare feet. The four-year-old wore a simple bland hospital grown that dragged as she walked along the cold tile flooring. Her ink black hair hung in a messy tangle of knots around her frail bony body and swung limply as she walked slowly across the room. Her mother's arms were released upon her arrival and the woman dropped painfully to her knees, earning a warning glare from man to the masked ones the pair dropped their heads at once in submission. As soon as she was freed the woman gathered her young daughter in her arms and wrapped her in a desperate hug.

"Please don't cry, Mommy." She could feel every broken breath, every shutter, hear every sniffle, feel every tear. She's never seen her mother like this before, so defeated. "I am going to help the village, Mommy, just like Camellia!" She exclaimed proudly.

The pure and trusted child was so so happy she'd be able to do something for her village other than lay in a hospitable and take up space. Her mother said nothing and simply pulled her closer, the grip grew constricting and painful. The girl's fragile bones shot sharp pain through her nerves, making her wince and whimper. She placed thin fingers against her mother's shoulders and gave a weak shove but the woman didn't budge an inch. The squeeze grew stronger and tighter until her rib cage was unable to expand and lungs unable to take in a breath of air.

"Mommy you're hurting me." The child wheezed out and while beating her little fists against her mother's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Camellia. I'm so sorry. I can't let them take you from me again." It felt like the bones in her back were starting to bend and break.

It hurt like nothing she's ever felt before. She swore she heard a creak before the grip slackened and she was able to take in a much-needed breath for one second, then she was thrown off balance. Her small feet slipped out from underneath her as her mother's dead weight came crumble down on top of her. She felt suffocated in the sweet scent of baked goods that she had loved so much yet now felt like she was going to drown in the smell. She was freed from the weight and took in several gulps of much needed clean air as she was picked up that man.

"Mommy? What's wrong with mommy?" The question went unanswered as the masked men flipped over the lifeless woman. The girl of four watched as her mother's hand flopped lightly on the ground before stilling. She looked like she was sleeping really still.

"Look at me." The man's low voice broke the silence in the room and turned the girl's head in his direction.

She saw red, the color reminded her of a rose or of blood. It was one single bright red eye and then the tomoe in the middle began to spin and the child's body went as limp as her mother's in the man's arm. He cradled the child closer to his chest with a disapproving frown plastered on his lips. The crimson orb lifted itself and glared in the direction of the village elites. It only took one look before they finally creaked.

"Forgive me, Sir. I panic when—"

"Is she dead?" He cut off the other while looking at the woman's body, knowing the answer yet wanting it vocalized.

"Yes, Sir." The older two of the masked man answered in hopes of taking some of the blame off his junior. Both took a knee and bowed their heads when the small hospital room filled with dark overbearing chakra. The small groan coming from the little bundle in his arms is what saved them from a vengeful wrath of one of the most feared men in the entire Shinobi world. The man adjusted the child into a more comfortable position while giving the other two his back.

"Clean it up." He grumbled coldly before vanishing entirely from sight. The man showed up on the lowest level of the hospital where a barrier shrouded a door. Outside the door it was dead silence, that could be said once it was open. As soon as the knob was turned and the pulled open, the screaming and shouted from within exploded within his ears.

The child, too deeply ensnared within her own mind, did not notice a thing. As soon as the door slammed shut more than one pair of eyes turned him. In the center of the room laid the body of another man. His blond head shook itself back and forth as he unconsciously wrestled with the demon locked inside him. The man laid bare chested for a massive paw like hand was sticking out of his stomach. The hand had long thick claws that could slice through skin like it was air, the back half of spacious room having been already destroyed by that single hand before the barrier was put in place.

"Sasuke." There was relief in a voice that called his name prompting him to take another step into the room and looked at the owner. The pink haired, green eyed, kunoichi took one look at the child in his arm and froze in mid-step her mouth hanging open and those water emerald wide in shock. "Is that—"

"She's the only one who is compatible, Sakura." His interrupted while walking around her.

"She just turned four, she a child! We can't stick that thing in her!"

"We're out of options. I don't want to do this anymore than you do, but there is no way around this."

"Naruto wouldn't—"

"Naruto is a coma that not even you know how to fix, Tail Beasts are running wild and destroying villages, I can't use my Rinnegan, and there is someone out there exploiting all of our weaknesses." Sasuke snapped at his former teammate who took a step back with every word. "If Kurama gets's out it will be the end of Konoha. Sealing it in this girl is the only thing we can do right now. It's only temporary once Naruto wakes up we'll figure out a way to fix all of this."

Disgusted with the mild touch of fear that came with his little outburst, he did what he could to reign in his temper and reassure the woman. The famed medical nin found herself grasping at straws as she tried to come up with a better argument on why they couldn't do this to the little girl, but in the end found herself clenching her fists after finding nothing to argue with against him.

Sasuke finished walking the rest of the distance and set the child down next to the barrier. He knelt down beside her with a deep look of regret and then rose again, stonefaced and heartless. He looked around the room and then opened his mouth to call to the rest of the shinobi in the room, "Let's get this done."

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 **This is an AU jumping into Next Gen. of Naruto. This is not going to follow anything happening in the manga or tv. series at all(I am not that fond of the Boruto Gen). This is all going to be pretty much my original ideas and plots so if you don't like different this is probably not a story for you.**

 **I'll be adding a few OCs to this story and making changes to some of the pairings. Since I got my main Canon Pairings, I'll be switching them around. Naruto is with Sakura in this one and Sasuke is with Hinata. Boruto will still be Naruto's kid, but he'll have an OC for a sister.**

 **Sarada will not exist and instead be replaced with Sasunata(OC), Himawari will remain and the twowill be having two OCs for brothers, one which will be one of the main focuses of the story. Besides Kakashi and Gaara who might be getting an OC pairing and some kids, everyone else is staying canon.**

Keep in mind I don't have a Beta and I don't own Naruto. Thanks for checking the story out.


	2. Chapter 2

The sky was clear tonight without a cloud in sight, the moon casts its spotlight on the once abandon Compound now thriving with life. Sasuke Uchiha stood just outside his compound watching as five silhouettes came into view. If someone had asked him where he'd be in eighteen years he would have told them: married to Sakura, living as Uchiha Compound, with one kid.

For a while that had been his picture-perfect family, he had always thought that he'd be with Sakura. However, it seemed like fate had different plans for him. The man glanced down at the eldest of children as he reached them before his mother and sibling. Akira Uchiha, he was the perfect son, at thirteen he was at the top of his year, a chunin, and they suspect he'd be a jonin by the end of this year.

He was an honorable boy, a little arrogant and headstrong yet when your father was an Uchiha such traits were expected. The only problem with Akira was that he looked more like a Hyūga than an Uchiha. He had long blue-black hair he kept tied behind his head with bangs that hid his face when he dropped his head or bowed.

Both his eyes held the Byakugan, he wore black sleeves shirt and standard issued shinobi pants and open toed sandals. Sasuke, although not the greatest when it comes to showing affection, wouldn't change he eldest for the life of him, but giving Akira the title as heir to the Uchiha Clan was troubling without the Sharingan.

His daughters, Sasunata and Himawari trailed not too far behind their older brother. Sasunata was a year behind her brother, she had the typical Uchiha features complete with Sharingan and was often told she looked like her father over her mother. With a rather stoic attitude and wasn't big on smiling, however, was an honest and level-headed kunoichi. Sasunata, although only a genin, was considered an elite genin and third in her year.

Himawari was four years behind her sister and looked closer to a Hyūga rather than an Uchiha, unlike her older sister who had onyx colored hair, eyes and wore glasses, Himawari had dark blue hair and lighter purple tinted eyes with visible pupils with the Byakugan. Himawari was still training as an academy student, and was catching up to her older siblings at an alarming rate. She has proven to pack quite a punch with gentle fist technique. She was the most mature out of her sibling and had no problems helping around the house and doing the chores.

Hinata Uchiha showed up on his right and silently looped an arm around his with a warm smile on her lips. The former Hyūga had let her hair grown out and touched her waist, she wore a dark blue jacket with a black tank top underneath it. A matching skirt that cut off mid-thigh with leggings and black fingerless gloves. Since marrying an Uchiha, her choices in clothing has become bolder and form fitting.

She has maintained her sweet and caring side although has obtained a frightening amount of confidence in both herself and her skills as Kunoichi. She had retired as an active shinobi in order to take care of her family, having taken interest in medical ninjutsu, she's been studying underneath Sakura as a medical-nin. It was mostly thanks to her Kekki Genkai and her incredible chakra control, that she had become nearly on par with her mentor in medical ninjutsu.

Sasuke was very proud of the family he had made with Hinata, he would have no other to carry on the name of the Uchiha clan. The head of the Uchiha clan didn't like to pick favorites, he knew how that felt with own father but couldn't deny the fact that there was one he tended to be more mindful over the other three. He felt the muscles in his newly acquired left arm twitch when a small hand slipped itself into his.

Both his eyes, the one hidden and visible, dropped down to the 'runt' of the Uchiha family. The six-year-old, Ryuu Uchiha, was the spitting image of his father and could have been the poster child for the Uchiha clan. Ryuu was the most considerate and emphatic out of all of the Uchiha children, unlike the other three who dealt with Sasuke's hectic life as a Shinobi in their own ways, Ryuu was not put off in the slightest by his father rather cold and indifferent personality. He did not try to shower their father in affection like Himawari did, he did not bend or bow his head in utmost respect like Akira did, and he did not get mad and lose his temper like Sasunata did.

He read in between the lines, very much like how he did with the book in his hand, and found little things that were acceptable to express his love without bothering or keeping the man at a distance. Like now for instance, whereas the other three huddled and walk beside their mother, he was 'allowed' to walk beside and hold his father other hand. Inwardly, he was rather happy that his father had decided to fix his left arm, normally Ryuu was stuck lightly gripping the back of his father's shirt.

Feeling the eyes peering down at him, the child tore his own from the book he was reading and tipped his head upwards to look up at the single black pupil staring down at him. At one point in his short life, Ryuu would have swiftly pulled his hand back and ducked behind his mother's leg with such a look, but now after observing his father for the additional two years the man was kept in the village, Ryuu could read his eyes and expressions no matter what they were.

He offered Sasuke a tender hearted smile that mimicked his mother's own not too long ago. Ryuu was special, besides the obvious fact that he had no problem connecting with his father, he was the first child to ever hold two different Kekki Genkai in his eyes. The left one was a darker purple than an average Hyūga eye, but between the color and the lack of pupil evident made him appear less of an Uchiha which had prompted him to hide that eye behind his bangs.

The right eye was currently a dark black but often bled red when he was under a lot of pressure or activated it. The boy was the true prodigy of the family, having already surpassed both his sisters, he was currently being personally trained by Sasuke and would be taking the next Chunin exam when the time came. His sisters simply accepted him, but due to this the eldest Uchiha child loath the youngest.

Ryuu wasn't able to fully comprehend what Akira hated him about so much, he just knew that they did not get along. He assumed this hatred stemmed from the fact that he was catching up to the older boy rapidly in skill, the truth in why he had finished with the Academy so earlier was because he was tired of constantly being picked on for his odd eyes. Kids were mean and words tended to cut straight through his heart, being called a freak, half-breed, weirdo. His Academy days we not filled with joyful memories.

Ryuu returned his eyes to his book as Sasuke took to leading his family into the village and to the Hyūga Compound. Hiashi Hyūga had retired to the Clan Council not long after the Fourth Shinobi War. Hanabi had taken over as the clan head and was often taking the time to invite Hinata and her family over for dinner. Even though Hinata and her children were very much welcomed into the Compound, there was still a great deal of distrust and fear of her husband among some of the Hyūga and council members.

The four were well aware of this father's past actions and of their late Uncle Itachi, it was their history and their right to know yet none of them let that define them. Sasuke was atoning for what he had done or tried to do, he was steady working to repair his relationship with this village in small ways. It was not for his benefit but for his family. He did not want his past actions to affect them here and now.

As the family walked through the streets of Konoha they were met with nods of approval and friendly smiles. Ryuu pulled the book down slightly to watch the faces as they passed by. Ryuu wasn't fully updated on the situation but he did know there was a new threat coming to the Shinobi world. One so dire that it had resulted in putting the 7th Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, into a coma that not his wife could bring him out of.

That was about two years ago, the village had watched their hero and Kage being carried in by best friend and sister, Sasuke. It was also the day his father lost the use of his Rinnegan, details on why and how were not given to him. He just knew the basics he had gotten from over hearing conversations around the village.

Sasuke had taken up the mantle as the temporary Hokage until Naruto returned which bound him to this village. No matter how much the Uchiha asked and begged Kakashi Hatake refused to return to the seat as Hokage. The remaining members of Konoha 11 had all agreed that Naruto would want Sasuke to step in for him, ultimately, it was Shikamaru Nara who had convinced him and the Konoha Council that Sasuke was the best choice to watch over the village in Naruto stead.

The man still couldn't get used to being called Lord Eighth nor how fickle people could be. Not that long ago he was the Traitor, now he was their Savior and their leader. He didn't like it yet put up with it for Naruto's sake.

As they turned down the path and entered through the open gates that led into the Compound, the doors were opened at once with two Hyūga guards stationed at the entrance. The family stepped inside and Ryuu couldn't help but feel a little unnerved inside the home. He had a hard time believing that his mother had grown up here and had turned out so caring and nurturing, the inside of this place was rather bland.

The boy slowly dropped his father hand as the Head of the Clan showed herself with the former Head and greeted them as warmly as a Hyūga could. After the brief exchange, they all went to the dining room to eat together, somewhere in between eating and chatting Ryuu would dismiss himself to explore the Compound with his parent's permission. Unlike his siblings, he was not very good at socializing preferring books to people.

The boy's bare feet were muffled by his chakra as he ran down the hallways. He had mapped out a decent amount the clan's home but there were still places he had yet to find. Unfortunately, they had rules about activating their Kekki Genkai for privacy reasons, when not training, within the compound, so Ryuu was stuck remembering where he had and hadn't been without the aid of his Sharingan. The young Uchiha stopped completely when he felt that he was deep enough and rotated his head to look around.

He saw white and brown, everything looked the same here he wondered if any of the Hyūga ever got lost in this place. He began walking at a leisure pace down the right hallway and kept his eyes constantly in motion as he searched for what he wanted to find. He never told anyone the real reason he always left as soon as he was done eating to look around the Compound.

He had only seen her once or twice, it was the fact that he had caught sight of her with his Sharingan that made her so real, the ghost that is. She was dressed head to toe in white and always faded from his sight before he could catch her.

He had asked when he was still considered a mere baby(about three years ago) why Aunt Hanabi didn't have any children for them to play with. His mother had told him that her sister was unable to have any children after an accident during her active Shinobi days. The woman had supposedly adopted a Hyūga child as her heir but no one outside the Hyūga clan has ever seen the child before which included his family.

He suspects the girl in white and this heir were one and the same, but until he had solid proof he was making an assumption. Today he swore he'd get down to the bottom of this mystery. He had even left his book behind at the dinner table to fully focus on this task. After what felt like the fiftieth time of walking down the very same hallway something new showed up in his peripheral vision.

He twisted his neck around so fast he might have gotten whiplash if his training had not kept as limber and flexible as he was. In the center of the hallway floated a ball of blue fire. It was a perfect ball with flames dancing and jumping at the top of it. Ryuu, unconsciously, activate both his eyes. The left one remained unseen as chakra pumped through the veins at his temple. The right one shimmered crimson as the tomoe in the middle begun spinning rapidly around the pupil.

He found that the ball was made up of a chakra but it was unlike any chakra he has seen before. Instead of vanishing, like Ryuu expected, the ball of fire fled, floating down the opposite hallway at a speed a civilian's eye would never be able to keep up with. In a burst of chakra to his feet, Ryuu bolted down the hallway and after the blue orb.

Ryuu, who's has had been told countless times that he had the speed to rival his father, couldn't come within five feet of the ball. The child Uchiha, constantly praised for his skills, had some flaws one of his worst is his single-mindedness. Once he sets his sights on something he gives all his attention to it and nothing else.

It was no surprise when the ball of fire suddenly stopped and then disappeared right before his eyes. Between his momentum and speed, Ryuu was unable to slow himself to a graceful stop and found himself taking a rough tumble directly into a wall. He heard a creak as his face connected with the hard surface and felt the pain as he went down flat on his back. He felt tears stinging his eyes as he reached up and grabbed his nose, it was slightly slanted where the bone had broke.

The pain throbbed, but it wasn't anything he hadn't felt before. He pulled up the bottom of his shirt and placed the hem in his mouth as he counted to three and gave his nose a yank. He tensed feeling the bone pop back into place and pulled light green healing chakra from his center and pooled it into his hand. The pain died away and once he was certain it was in place and as fixed as he could get it, he dropped his hand and the shirt in his mouth while wiping away the blood dripping out of his nose.

Ryuu let out a soft sigh as his nerves calmed down and scoped the area out. The Uchiha flipped himself onto his stomach and then pushed upward to stand, beyond his nose he didn't seem to have anything else broken or harmed. Now then where was he? As the black pupil scanned around he decided that wherever he was it was not a place he had ever been before. The walls had long since crumbled and in their place stood thick beams of wood, blackened and charred from where what he assumed had been flames licking at them.

Above him, he could see holes some smaller and others larger where the light of the moon shined inside. Even the flooring was charred beyond recognition, how he had not noticed this place before was an astonishment to him. As he walked through the scorched remains of the back of the Compound, his feet led him to what might have been door outside. The deck he stepped on was just as black as the inside, but outside it looked like nothing had been touched in fact he was sure he was in the biggest formal garden he's ever seen.

The lake-side air was pungent with the fragrance of jasmine. This was no natural basin filled with melt water, but the luxury addition to a formal garden by an someone with both copious leisure time and money. In the center, there was a pond as large as a small lake with flowering lily pads and a wooden bridge that crossed the middle so you could look down at the koi carp. The flower beds were a riot of May color and even on close inspection, they were weed-free.

Ryuu wanted to get a better look at the pond and maybe go over the bridge a few times before his parents and siblings come looking for him, just as he was ready to step off the blackened deck there was a sound. He froze and tipped his head so that his ear was angled towards the sky. It was a giggle, feminine and soft, fluttering around a large tree whose twigs hung is odd ringlets.

Ryuu drew his foot back on the deck and stared intently in the direction of the tree and that's when he saw the blue orbs of fire. There were about nine of them bouncing and flying in circles around the tree, although, not moving nearly as fast as they had been when Ryuu had been trying to catch the one, their movements were lazier.

Behind them was what looked like a little girl, from under long white bangs were two large translucent violet eyes that looked to take up the majority of her face. The girl had a button of a nose The bridge was so low-profile as to be barely there at all; so that on a face of skin all the same milky hue, her nose was a bump just above her dusky pink lips. There was no doubt about it, she was cute maybe as cute or cuter than Himawari, of course, he would never say that to his sister.

He stood there long enough for the girl to circle the tree three more times, her feet were bare and seemed to be the only imperfection on her little body. With the Sharingan, he could see every little detail of her feet they were crisscrossed with more scars than he could count, some of them larger and others so tiny they weren't even really there. _'Why was she running around outside without sandals anyway and what are those glowing balls'_ he thought to himself before taking the plunge and stepping down into the grass.

He swore as soon as his foot touched the grass the girl's head snapped directly over to him. He tensed and felt the muscles in his hands twitch as the girl's foot caught on the hem of her kimono she was wearing and she went down hard. He could see it happening in slow motion, her front teeth sinking down into her bottom lip, breaking the skin and blood pooling out of it. He was in front of her before his mind had made any conscious choices, he grabbed her underneath her armpits and hauled her up effortlessly.

Now closer, he noticed the girl was really tiny, perhaps half his size and Ryuu was small for his age. If he had to guess her age he'd say she was around five or four maybe younger. As soon as he got her on her feet she turned around and made a run for it, her foot once again, stepped on the hem of her dress and she was flung forward instead of connecting with the earth, Ryuu's arms shot out, caught her around the waist and pulled her backwards perhaps a little too strongly. His rear fell against the grass painfully with the little girl seated in between his legs, his tail bone hurt almost as much as his nose had.

He ignored the pain, distracted when he felt the girl's body shaking under his touch. Ryuu leans over the elfin sized girl and finds clear tears streaming down her face like a waterfall. Her bottom lip where she had bitten it was gushing out the scarlet liquid that color as his right eye. That looked like it really hurt.

"I'm going to fix your lip, okay?" He asked gently although wasn't waiting for an answer as he focuses chakra into his left hand creating a small ball of healing chakra. "My Kaasan taught me how to use Chiyute no Jutsu, she said that great Shinobi need great medical-nin too." He continued talking aimlessly in hopes of putting the girl at ease as he lightly pressed the green chakra against the outside of her lower lip.

She stopped trembling but the tears didn't stop flowing even after the lip was healed. He wasn't all flustered or troubled by the tears she spilled, Himawari cried more than most Uchiha and he supposed he had his moments as well. Tears were a natural reaction when hurt or sad so you should not feel ashamed no matter your gender for spilling them, or at least that is what mother said. He just wasn't sure how to get them to stop, her lip shouldn't hurt anymore.

The six-year-old deactivated his eyes, Ryuu felt a great deal of guilt for being the reason she had tripped and hurt herself in the first place. He tried to remember what mother did when things like this happened.

Oh! The ravenette scooted backward so that the girl was no longer sitting between his legs. He crawled around her to kneel in front of her and offered her a tentative smile, "I'm sorry for making you fall I didn't mean too." The children sat there in complete silence for a minute or two and then the girl finally raised her puny arms up and brushed away the tears the stray tears that lingered on her eyes.

"Dats okay, I bergive you." The airy voice answered, making Ryuu smile a little brighter. She talked funny maybe it was because of her lip? He didn't care too much because she had no more tears falling free.

"What are those balls?" He asked, attention shifting back towards the nine floating orbs circling over the girl's head. They were kind of distracting.

"Balls? Oh! My friends." The girl got up carefully and held out her hands, two of the fireballs drifted down to hover right over her palms. Ryuu stood up and made to touch one, but the tricksters dipped out of the way and went back to hovering in the air. The girl let out a joyful laugh as the pair left and joined the others. Ryuu wasn't as happy with their departure and watched them carefully as while they flew around. "Ramen gave me them." She informed him happily.

"Ramen?" He repeated, was she talking about noodles? "Who's Ramen?"

"My fox friend." She seemed rather ecstatic to be able to talk to him as more words poured out of her mouth. "He lives inside me so you can't see him." She pressed both hands against the obi where her belly laid.

This girl was strange, cute, but strange. Ryuu noticed that when she talked to him her eyes were looking over his shoulder or down at his feet. He wasn't sure what to make of her. "I think I've seen you around here before. How come you never come out and play?" This girl had to be the little ghost once he's seen when exploring the grounds.

"Strangers are scary, I don't know if they're the bad peoples or good peoples. Hanabi Okaasan also says it safer if I stay hidden and Ramen doesn't like the peoples either he says they're mean to him." Ryuu simply decided to accept these answers, he'd ask his mother about this girl later. "You wanna play? Ramen and me were playing tags with them." She pointed in the direction of the blue orbs of fire. Seeing as he didn't have his book and it has been a while since he had someone to play with, Ryuu agreed with a smile and nod.

The two ran all over the vast garden trying to catch the little orbs for hours. Ryuu even cheated, using his chakra, and still didn't come any closer to catching one. Once in a while, one of them would simply slow itself speed and be 'caught' by the little girl much to her delight. Ryuu should have been a little more spiteful about this, yet listening to the girl's shouts of glee and laughter evaporated any such thoughts and feelings.

As time passed them by the two grew tired and took a rest beneath the large tree. Somehow Ryuu ended up being the one leaning against the rough bark with the small girl sitting in between his legs and resting her head on his chest. The nine glowing orbs drifted around, seemly having lost their energy, and circled the two in an almost protective embrace. The little girl had already fallen fast asleep against him.

Ryuu felt an unusual warmth buzzing around in his chest, it was rather comforting. He wondered if this was what it was like to have a younger sibling? Ryuu felt like he'd make an excellent older brother or at least better one than his current brother. He's already asked his mother about another baby but she said go and ask father and all he got from him was one of his infamous 'hn'. Ryuu was getting better at learning what those meant, the hn' he had gotten most likely referred him back to his mother.

The boy hadn't bothered returning to his mother he knew this game, the asking game, it literally got him nowhere. He did not know why they wouldn't just go and get him another baby, it was disheartening. The child let out a long yawn while pulling the little girl closer to him, maybe he should ask for one as a birthday present? The little boy drifted off with that thought in mind, unaware of the several pairs of eyes watching them in the distances.

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 **So I had more for this, but I cut it off because it was getting pretty long. This is two years after the prologue. I don't have a Beta so sorry for the errors, I checked it but I am only humans. I enjoy criticism on my writing over my story(or my pairing), if you see anything wrong let me know or ignore it whatever. I don't normally update once a day, but I felt like I needed a chapter one up so here it is. Hope you enjoy.**


	3. Chapter 3

The round white-lilac eyes roamed around the dining room with a gentle smile hidden within the orbs. They drank up the tender and peaceful image of a family spending a dinner together. The owner discreetly focused on particular Uchiha, the very Uchiha she would not have thought would ever be sitting at their table eating with them and smiling about it. Well, Hanabi supposed that the tilt in his lips was less of a smile and more of a smirk.

It was better than the emotionless and unfeeling facade he wore in public. There was a side to that man she would never have been able to see without her sister. He was cold but kind, intimidating but protective, aloof but considerate. Uchiha Sasuke was still a great mystery, but with her sister's help, she'd unravel him.

It had come as a huge shock, years back, when Hinata revealed that she was interested in the Uchiha. Sasuke had returned from traveling around Shinobi world for Naruto and Sakura's wedding, something that had been a huge astonishment for her sister but hadn't been to Hanabi. If her sister had been paying closer attention to reality instead of fawning over the Uzumaki, she would have seen how close Sakura was to Naruto when compared to her.

Hanabi felt that it was only a matter of time before Sakura accepted Naruto's feeling for her. The two had been through so much together as a team, and when Sasuke left to join Orochimaru it was only natural they grew closer. It had only been a matter of time before their friendship and close bond turned into something more, something stronger. Then the wedding came along with Hinata's broken heart.

Hanabi had only seen her sister cry like that once before, and that had been after Neji's deaths. Hinata had stopped training, didn't go on as many missions, and even saw less of her teammates. It was as if the light had gone out of her, everything that Hinata had done she had done for Naruto, he had been her goal and her reasoning for fighting on even after their father had given her birthright title to Hanabi.

Her sister, no matter how many times she got knocked down and belittled, she got back up. Hinata's love was so strong and pure that even now, Hanabi got a little irked remembering how Naruto seemed to be utterly oblivious of her sister's feeling, going as far as personally inviting Hinata to the wedding. How dense can someone be?

The flicker of pain in the joints of her left hand reminded her that she was squeezing her chakra laced hands underneath the table. She had drawn the curious eyes of Hinata to her, but thankfully father and Sasuke were still chatting with each other across the table. The Hyuga Head took in some deep breaths to settle her rising chakra and temper. When it came to her sister she always got just a tad bit carried away.

Hanabi, for the longest time, despised Naruto Uzumaki. He had taken something precious away from Hinata, even if he hadn't meant or didn't know, it was already done. She had feared that her sister would never be the same again, that was until the night she came home from the wedding. Hanabi had assumed she'd be all teary-eyed and depressed, but she had come back to the estate with a tiny smile playing at her lips.

She seemed to radiate a little more light and happiness, Hanabi wouldn't get to the bottom of her sister mood swings for a couple of months. She highly doubted anyone in the whole Shinobi Universe would have guessed that it was an Uchiha who was bringing that joy to Hinata.

It had taken Hanabi a little time to warm-up to the Uchiha. A man who's only rival was the Uzumaki. A man who had defected from their village only to return and try and destroy it. A man who was practically a god himself. It was unnerving to see him, a dark, disturbing, ruthless and slightly insane, man with Hinata, light, sweet, innocent, kind, Hinata.

At first, she had thought the man had some sort of hidden motive with going after her sister when she had just taken a knife to the heart. After the first year of them being together and Hinata's vast improvement in strength as a Kunoichi, she slowly came around to the idea that he might be sticking around. It was only after the marriage and birth of Akira did she fully approve of him. He was rough around the edge, but with sister's help, the man managed to wedge himself into her heart too. He belonged here even if not everyone in the clan was exactly welcoming.

Their father, after four grandchildren and old age, started opening his heart a little more and accepted the Uchiha Head as well. It was funny to see the stern, no-nonsense former Clan Leader fawning over the younger generation. Hanabi was truly happy for her sister and for sharing her family with them. Yet there, in the back of Hanabi's heart, would always be a little spite for the Uchiha, something that would have built and festered within her heart forever if not for Sasuke.

It had been a three years after Himawari's birth, Hanabi had taken on her last mission as an ANBU before she'd retire to concentrate solely on her duty as the Head of the Clan. She had been distracted by unwanted feeling and thoughts, she slipped up and made a grave error, one that had nearly cost her her life. They had gotten her to the medical-nin barely alive, Sakura was able to save her life but the damage was already done. A gruesome scar ran from the left of her hip all the way to the lower right breast.

If she hadn't been retiring, she felt her career as a Shinobi would have come to an end right then and there. The worst of it was the fact that she'd never be able to have children, Hanabi really didn't mind retiring if she could have had a family like Hinata, children, a husband, something to keep her smiling. Now it could never happen. She had gone to a bad place for awhile, saying some very terrible and hurtful things to her sister, blaming her for Neji's death, for abandoning her to Sasuke, and more. She had been at her ultimate low for months.

Konohamaru visited her daily when she was in the hospital. She never took much of an interest in him when she was young, he started off as an annoyance, and that slowly turned into a friendship, now she wasn't sure what he was to her. He stayed at her side no matter what she called him or told him, he took all her frustration and anger without flinching, always coming back the next day.

She guessed she grew dependent on him in a way. Her depression, 'it's heavy' was the only way she could define it. She had to carry it around even though she never wanted to. It was always over her, casting its shadow on her life. It was hung by a thin thread, too fragile to hold something so heavy. Most of the time she didn't know what caused the thread to finally break releasing the weight on her.

It fell too fast, and before she could run she'd be pinned down. It crushed her ribs, made it hard for her to breathe. She tried to scream; a cry for help was of no use. No one else could see it - the weight that had been slowly crushing her to death.

Then it would lessen, just a little so she could breathe again, Konohamaru would lift that weight when it became too much. He helped show her that life wasn't over yet, she could still fight she was still strong, she still had an entire clan to look after. He helped give her a purpose for a little while, the weight would always come crashing down whenever she saw Hinata and her family, the constant reminder of what she couldn't have.

She hadn't want her sister happy and smiling when she was hurting and dead inside The sadness grabbed her heart tight, crushes it to pieces. She wished that her sister would be as miserable as she was, she wanted her to know what it felt like to experience real pain. When Hinata had her fourth child, Ryuu, his birth was tough.

They had gotten him out alright, but he had killed his mother. Hinata had died on the table, she was dead for a full minute before they were able to get her heart beating again. Her wish had come true, Hinata had been utterly miserable and disheartened when she learned that she wouldn't be able to have any more kids. Any brightness inside of Hanabi had been gulped by something dark. No, she would be wrong to say it is dark - it is empty, nothing. She had hated herself so much.

It would be four long years before she could come to peace with her demons. The night Sasuke came to her doors had been a particularly stormy one, the sky weep tears of rain in rapid succession and the wind howled and screamed it's rage, thunder ruptured and clapped and lightning danced a little jig in the stormy sky. It had been well past midnight and she had been training when she was summoned to the front entrance where she found a drenched Uchiha.

She had taken him to her private studies, once her father's and now her own, where he showed the tiny bundle underneath his cloak. It was a child, a little girl no older than his youngest son. The girl's ebony hair had strains of white in it, her eyes resembled those of a Hyūga yet the girl herself was not one Hanabi had ever seen inside the clan. There were a few members outside of the clan that had been placed in marriages outside of the clan to secure trades and strengthen alliances, but those were very rare and all records of any births were recorded.

Sasuke had told her the girl's name was Tsubaki, she and the mother, Sango, had been brought into the village when they were found at Konoha's borders and taken straight to the hospital. Sango gave them no last name nor any clan, no husband either, just told them that she had traveled from the Land of Honey to bring her daughter to the best medical-nin in all of the Hidden Villages.

Tsubaki had an oddly high amount of chakra in her system for a child, it didn't behave like normal chakra. The chakra had been destroying her chakra paths and slowly killing her from the inside out. Tsubaki was kept at the hospital for research and testing alongside her mother, no one had ever heard of anything like this before. Tsubaki was a good docile patient for a year. After that year, she was always out of her bed roaming the halls at nice, laughing and playing with her 'friends' Kuramen and the balls of fire. That is when Sasuke had taken an interest in the little girl and her friends.

Hanabi had thought he had been joking when he told her that the angelic looking child had the nine-tailed demon seal inside her. He hadn't given her very many specifics just said he needs somewhere to keep her out of sight for a while. She blended in with the Hyūga the best, there was no doubt she had to be their descendant.

Hanabi had agreed to keep her in the Clan, a while would turn into one year and then in another half she adopted the child into her family. It was hard at first hearing the question 'where's my Okaasan?' day in and day out. It took six long months before the news of her mother's death actually hit her and the denial washed away.

For two months the night terrors would come nonstop, the black hair would turn a colorless white due to the constant fear and paranoia of seeing her mother's dead face everytime she closed her eyes. Then finally her eyesight would wan before failing completely. Sakura theorized that it was trauma when nothing could be found wrong with the child's eye.

Despite her flaws and her fears, it would be the little smiles or the loving hugs that completely lifted the weight from Hanabi's shoulders and melted her heart. The motherly love she had for Tsubaki is the ordinary kind. It is no more than any mother she knew and respect. It is the kind of love that would move heaven and earth for her child if she had the power. It is the kind of love that says 'I would give my life for my child anytime, any place.'

It was the spark that should ignite in every mother. She loved that little girl like she was her own, so one could only imagine the fear that gripped her mind when a branch member stepped into the dining room and whispered into her ear. She lost the typical mask she wore as her lips quivered and her eyes widened in horror. She was up and out of the room before another breath could be taken, her chakra laced feet carried her down the hallways towards the west side of the Compound.

Her Kekki Genkai awakened itself with heightened emotions, she was able to see them before she was anywhere near them. The bodies, fifteen Hyūga members laying motionless on the ground, the blood oozed out of their bodies and seeping into the wooden floorboards. She bypassed them as tears formed in the corner of each eye, she went straight down the hallway and turned the corner to reach the room.

"Tsubaki!" She didn't sound like herself, panic had dug its claws into her chest and wasn't letting go. Hanabi knew she wasn't in here, her eyes said so, it didn't stop her from looking in the girl's closet, the bathroom connected to the bedroom, in the girl's massive stuff animal collection. She didn't even check before she strikes, spinning effortless on the tip of her left foot, she thrust an arm out with a hand laced in lethal chakra.

The blow connected with the sheath of a sword, cracking it instead of breaking it. The black eye shifted to red as the Uchiha glared at her, the panic inside her wavered just a tad at the fierce frown she was given. She moved to maneuver around Sasuke yet he wouldn't allow her to go far, a strong hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her back.

"Let go!" In her haste to find her daughter, Hanabi slammed another chakra laced palm at the man, she never came close to touch him. The sheath lashed out and struck her wrist making Hanabi grit her teeth in pain.

"Knock it off." The low tone had a warning edge to it. "You're not going to find her if you're not thinking straight." He released her arm from his grip and walked ahead of her out of the child's room. "I can't sense Ryuu. He's probably with her." He commented, waiting for her just outside the room. The sword that he constantly carried around was back in place behind him.

As he looked over his back at her that eye was no longer glowing red, there was no way to tell he was concerned by his facial expression it was the fact that he had stopped at the doorway to make sure she was coming along that said it all. Hanabi took in a deep breath and stopped pumping chakra to her eyes, turning them off, before stepping behind the man. She hoped that whoever was trespassing did not touch Tsubaki or they would have hell to pay.

* * *

Someone was crying, it would have been soundless if not for the small hiccups that came with it. Ryuu tries to rouse himself into a state of awareness and finds that something is very wrong. Everything is so heavy, his arms, his legs, his head, even his eyelids. It takes him three attempts before they finally do as he demanded, even then he had a difficult time keeping them open. The one in his line of sight is that girl, his playmate.

His vision is blurry until his eyes brought themselves into focus, he only sees her and two of the blue balls of firelight hovering over her shoulder. There were pearl-shaped tears rolling down her cheeks from wide luminous eyes. Her tears made wet trails that glistened in the moonlight, her teeth are digging into her lower lip again as her chest heaves up and down as if she can't get enough air. He's worried that she's having a panic attack and wants to tell to calm down, wants to know why she crying, wants her to stop chew on the bottom of her lip before she breaks the skin again. But he can't even open his mouth, what's wrong with him?

His head lops forwards when he feels the pressure on his wrists. The blood that had once flowed thick and scarlet in his veins was clasped in her miniature fingers. She had one hand on each wrist and was holding them together, but the blood slipped through the cracks and stained the grass crimson. His wrists? When had he cut his wrists? He couldn't remember anything after falling asleep with the girl in his arms.

He wanted to tell her to go find his mother, she'd be able to help him. His tongue felt like lead in his mouth and refused to budge. He managed to get his head to lean back against the bark of the tree trunk, he could feel himself fading fast. If he could just gather enough Chakra he could heal himself up, regrettably, between his training with his Otousama and the game with this girl, he had used more chakra then he had willing to spare. He was practically running on low now. Was this really going to be how he died?

He took in several shallow breaths and concentrated on his core where his chakra laid dormant, as he expected his chakra was too low. For him to use any at this moment would be signing over his life to death. He didn't like this feeling, it was new and terrifying, the feeling of being helpless. He didn't know what to do. His eyes returned to the girl or rather over her shoulder, there was someone standing there just behind her.

The sight had his heartbeat pick up, and his eyes widening a fraction. He willed his mouth to move and his tongue to work, nothing worked all he got was a soft groan to escape. His arms fell limp on his thighs as the girl was grabbed by the back of her collar and suspended in the air by an adult.

He couldn't tell if it was a male or female, they were cloaked in a loss black robe and a hood concealed their face. Four more materialized out of the shadows to stand beside their leader.

"Are you sure this is the one?" The leader questioned one of the subordinates who looked over in Ryuu's direction.

"Yeah, I'm sssssure. Nagini checked before poisoning the boy, that one hasss the sssseal." The voice replied with an unusual hiss after every S. As if doubting their word, the leader hoisted the child higher while slipping a hand underneath her kimono to lift it up. Too petrified to even think of moving, the child flinches as the cold night air brushes against the bare skin of her little legs. The leader pulled the dress up just underneath her chest to find the seal on the lowest part of her sternum. The leader drops the dress once he has a visual and turns to the others.

"Are we unsealing her?" One asked and gets a head shake from the leader.

"No, the Lord wants this one brought in. She's young we can use her."

"What about the boy?" Another asked.

"He's as good asssssssss dead, if not from the blood lossssss the poissssion will kill him." The hissing one reminded them, leaving the group to kneel down in front of Ryuu. "You're pretty. It'sss ssuch a shame to just kill you? Perhapssss I'll take you with after you die you'll corpse would make such a beautiful nesssst for my babiesss." Those words might have put a new kind of terror in his head if he hadn't been watching those orbs.

They had grown small, mimicking those glowing bugs he always saw during the warmer nights. One had floated down to hover right behind the hissing one's shoulder. Then it flew right inside the body, the ball of light phased through the chest, the hissing one didn't notice a thing.

"We have to move, Sir. Someone is coming our way fast." A lacky reported to the leader who was staring at the girl with unseen expression. Her lips were moving but her words were too soft to be heard, the tears did not stop falling. The man leaned into to hear what the child was saying and wished he hadn't.

"You're all going to die here." A nanosecond after the last word left her lips the screaming began.

The hissing one's hand raised themselves to their neck, taking in deep and noisy breaths of oxygen only to gasp when trying to exhale. They couldn't get a breath out, they couldn't breathe. The hood is thrown off revealing a feminine face with unnatural yellow eyes that are blinking too fast to keep up with. Her hands wrap around her neck as her legs give out from underneath her.

Her head is pounding, her lungs are burning and every cell in her body is screaming for oxygen. Her heart started beating frantically, desperate for sweet oxygen. But it was no use. The oxygen she had had moments earlier was spent and she was left with a headache, dizziness. After a what felt like eons in suffering, her thoughts and memories were taken away as sweet blackness engulfed her world and her life left her body.

Another one who had dropped his hood was clawing frantically on his stomach, crying about how much it burned. In his left hand, he grabs a sickle like weapon and plunges into his stomach, if he feels the pain he does not give any sign. As the flesh splits, crimson liquid pops from the barrier and seeps away from the wound.

The blood flow started slowly before gushing from the abdomen wound as over and over again the man cut through his robes and carved into his flesh. He sliced and cut until the flesh was raw and organs started to be seen. He stabbed and ripped until the blood coated his hands and his blade fell from his hands: until his legs were no longer able to hold him; until he slipped into a coma before death followed in its wake.

The leader watched his subordinates fall right into death's clutch one after one, he propelled himself forwards and up to the rooftop when he sensed the killing intent coming from behind him. He just managed to avoid losing his head as a blade sliced through the air directly where he had been seconds ago, the one standing beside him hadn't been as lucky.

The head was cleaved cleanly from the body and dropped to the ground with a solid thump before rolling a few inches away, the body fell backward onto the grass. The scarlet-eyed man standing behind the fallen body was a rather grim sight. The last remaining subordinate made the mistake of look the Uchiha in the eye, they hit the ground in a motionless heap.

Sasuke viewed the man as he fled off the rooftop, he was more than ready to pursue until he saw his son. The boy was just sitting there against the tree, his eyelids had grown too heavy for him to keep open and so he had succumbed to the darkness. In a rare instance, Sasuke's mind was starting to fail, like an engine that turns over and over, never kicking into action.

He couldn't formulate a thought. The sight freezes him in his spot and drained all hope, dreams and feeling from within him, replacing them with a feeling of despair, hopelessness and most of all, fear. Its claws cut through his body and wrapped around his brain. Rationality taps its way into his mind when he sees the boy's chest rise and fall, he can sense what little chakra still in the body. Ryuu is alive.

He is bending over his son when Hanabi catches up. His eyes observe the deep indents in the boy's wrists, the vein had been punctured and the blood wasn't conjugating. The marks looked identical to those of a snake bite, he knew them well.

"Where is she?" Hanabi came up behind his shoulder, eyes misty at the sight of Ryuu yet in constant motion as she searched for her daughter. Her jaw unlocked itself, appearing ready to repeat the question as Sasuke pressed his forehead lightly against his son's before he rose to stand.

"Take him to Hinata. I'll get Tsubaki." His voice rumbles like a storm deep inside of him. It's low and emotionless but powerful enough to send chills through Hanabi's body. She knew this tone of voice well, it brought her back to her years of Shinobi training instilled within her. She grits her teeth and lowers her head just a little when the man glared at her. She loses any will to argue with him with that glare. It was scary.

"I'll take him." As he turns to leave she adds, "She has social anxiety, she's never been outside in the village before. She'll be scared and panic you need to be careful with her and keep her calm. "

The man nods his head before leaving. He flares his chakra, sensing several Shinbo in the village and guarding the walls. He couldn't pick up any foreign chakra in the area, what he did notice that the massive increase in chakra coming from the east of the village, it was building rapidly and had a familiar feel to it.

"Kurama." He muttered to himself picking up his speed as he flew towards the increasing chakra. He found the girl and her captor on the rooftop of a building, the girl was free. Tsubaki was sitting formally on the rooftop, kneeling on her legs and her hands resting in her lap. Her head was slanted slightly to the right and seemed to watch the man on the ground five feet ahead of her.

The leader was on his back, his clothes were singed and burned, where his hair had been were large scorch marks in a circular shape. He had second-degree burns on his skull and face, the visible parts of his torso could be seen where blisters were bubbling and popping open to gushing out disgusting puss, other parts of his body had the skin and muscle worn away. In places, the damage was deeper in the structures such as tendons, joints, and bone.

Sasuke cleared the distances between them and came up behind the pair. He had the strongest urge to grab his blade as he saw the dark red chakra coming from the child in thick waves.

"Kurama?" He was expecting to hear the demon's voice loudly within his head, so was lost when the girl didn't move an inch. "Tsubaki." Her head twisted just a little to give him her ear, besides that she remained practically motionless. The man wanted to get closer, however, there were eight balls hovering circling around the intruder and the last stationed just behind the girl. He could feel the heat coming off them from where he stood, it was almost as intense and overwhelming as Amaterasu's black flames.

"You're a damned soul, causing endless pain and harm to others. Perhaps it is time to die?" Tsubaki's words were delivered in a detached and cold-blooded voice. Sasuke watched as the girl simply smiled while raising a hand and waving good bye. He watched as the orbs of fire descended like ravenous wolves, morphing into the man's body.

He watched as the man combusted into flames upon contact, his screams silent as the white-blue fire in his body took away his oxygen, his flesh, even his bones. He was a pile of ashes in under a minute. The Uchiha did nothing but watch this unfold with a blank expression. One by one the orbs slipped out of the pile of ashes and returned to the child. They slipped into her body, fusing with the demonic chakra already circulating through her paths. It was only after all nine orbs were back in place did the demon withdraw his chakra from her body, making the girl shudder in protest.

"Tsubaki." This time she turned to look at him, her eyes were rimmed red and puffy as tears continued falling down her cheeks. She looked as broken as she did the night she saw her mother die. He noted that her irises seemed a little lighter than any of the other members of her clan, there was something wrong with her eyes. He decided not to dwell on it nor what had just happened.

Hanabi was supposed to report everything that went on with this girl to him, a part of their terms of keeping her. He quickly noticed the incoming shinobi most likely coming to check that source of demonic chakra. Sasuke returned his attention to Tsubaki as the child stumbled her way over to him, she had her hands nervously pulling on the long strains of her white hair. He could hear her breaths come out in gasps and sensed Kurama's chakra surging through her body again.

He can't tell what is wrong with her; when it came to problems like this he always had Hinata around to deal with them. She stops a foot or two in front of him and crouches on the ground, hands leaving her hair to cover her ears with her eyes shut tightly.

The balls are back, they slip out of her body smaller than before but still no less threatening.

"Sasuke!" He barely glances in Sakura's direction as the Kunoichi shows up on the rooftop. She brings their former sensei with her along with the Nara. He can't pay too much attention to them right now, all nine of the balls are flying around the rooftop in different directions. They grow frantic as Tsubaki begins rocking back and forth and letting out loud sobs.

She's taking. Talking like she doesn't have enough time to say what she needs to. Her words are crowded together and some are missing. Her sentences are fragmented and her thoughts seem to jump from one thing to another. All her fears are tumbling out unchecked by her brain, she's in some kind of mental freefall, unable to center her mind. The worst she becomes the more violent the balls acts. It gets hot, their fire scorching the air.

The three shinobi had to swiftly evade them as they streamed around them. Sakura threw four shurikens at one and watched as the throwing stars went through the flames, coming out the other side in a melted mess of metal still red from the flames. He ignored the other they, they were jonin level shinobi they should be able to handle some balls of fire.

Sasuke stepped towards the trembling girl who was trying to make herself as small as possible. He remembers Hanabi's words about Tsubaki's problem. He's met a lot of people in his messed up life, but never one with social anxiety nor so young. He decided that the best way to get all of this to stop before she burned down the entire village is to shut her mind.

He closed the distances between them and, perhaps a little too roughly, he grabbed the child's chin and pushed her up to get her eyes on him. His Sharingan should have put her asleep as soon as her eyes met his, but that wasn't the case. She remained awake and aware, all he accomplished was scaring her worse.

He felt pain surge in his left arm, it ebbed as soon as he put more distance between them with a leap backward. The orb hanging near his arm left him alone once he was no longer directly in front of the girl. He had a first-degree burn where it grazed him yet clearly had no intention of doing any serious harm. It could have hurt him as badly as it had the man who was now a pile of ashes, so why didn't it?

He took a second to map out the direction of the path of every orb with his crimson eye, analyzing them as if he had all the time in the world. The more he watched the more he learned. The orbs weren't trying to hurt them, just keep them on their toes and away from the young heiress. They stayed within the boundary of the of the rooftop, never straying to touch other homes or buildings.

They'd move towards them, slightly angled to avoid colliding or touching their body, occasionally singing clothing or hair, but never trying to internally cause harm. It had Sasuke thinking and staring in Tsubaki's direction.

He replaced the girl with one of his daughters and what he would do if they were in this situation. Those thoughts brought him to his night terrors, waking up in a panic, the loss of breath and fear. He reminisced on how Hinata managed to calm him. This was the only plan he had right now, so it was better than nothing. He charged forwards, maneuvering around the balls to reach Tsubaki.

He hunched down low in front of her and grasped one of her shaking hands, pressing it against his chest right over his heart. "Tsubaki, I need you to concentrate. Block everything else out and focus only on me. Slow your breathing and match mine." He spoke softly to her like one would a spooked animal. It felt like an eternity before the little girl was no longer hyperventilating and the erratic heartbeat composed itself.

The fireballs stopped flying around hectically and all began to come back to Tsubaki. They flew in a few circles until the sobs quieted down to sniffles, finally returning to their demonic source.

With the threat of being cooked gone, Sasuke stood up pulling the child into his arms. She clung to him as if he were a lifeline, her little hands gripped at his shirt so tightly her knuckles appeared even whiter. She was asleep by the time Sakura, Kakashi, and Shikamaru stepped up.

"So she's the one you sealed the tailed beast in?" Shikamaru sounded as bored and lazy as ever. The way his eyes stared at the child gave away his interest in her. Sasuke didn't bother answering the question it was obvious wasn't it. Shikamaru was one of the select few who knew that Naruto did not hold the tail beast inside him anymore.

He and four others plus the Council knew what had had to be done two years ago. The rest of the villagers and Shinobi had no idea that there was a new vessel for the Bijuu. Sasuke would like to keep it that way for as long as possible.

"Who's blood is that?" Sakura asked, spotting the dark maroon stains on Tsubaki's kimono.

"It's not hers," Sasuke confirmed yet didn't bother elaborating on who's it belonged to.

"Your Sharingan does not work on her?" Kakashi had been debating on asking the question. Seeing as Sasuke was in a 'talkative' mood he found it was better to ask now rather than wait to later when his former student wasn't as distract. Trying to get information out of Sasuke when he didn't feel like talking was impossible.

"My Kekki Genkai is fine." He growled a little defensively. They've been worrying about his eyes since his Rinnegan was no longer in use. It wasn't the fact that there was anything wrong with it and more the fact that he couldn't remember for the life of him how to use the eye properly. "It doesn't work if I don't have eye contact, being blind would also hinder it." Sasuke was slowly finding the others presents just a little suffocating.

He was also worried about Ryuu and Hinata, although liked to act strong, was probably breaking down internally. The woman lived and breathed for her family theses days. "I need to take her back home. I need to see you three in the Office at the first light tomorrow. We need to discuss Hanabi Hyūga." He tossed the words over his back as he reached an edge of the rooftop.

He let out a heavy sigh as he cleared the gap between the rooftop and the next one, unfortunately, Hanabi had been filing false reports about the girl to him. She had broken their agreement and because of that Tsubaki's life in this village was going to have to be uprooted. It was time to call on the Kazekage for a favor.

* * *

 **These chapter's are becoming a lot longer then I thought they'd be, but I am not complain when my muse runs away with my story. I put a little bit of Tsubaki's history in this one, she's got a bigger backstory which I'll build on later.  
**

 **Anyway, Hanabi may seem a somewhat OOC in this and Sasuke as well, yet due to the events that have gone on in their lives in this story they've both changed as people.**

 **HinaSasuChoAsu: SasuHina, I'm not going to lie, is my OTP for Naruto, behind them is NaruSaku. I agree with you about Hinata balancing Sasuke out. The little's girl's memory is completely intact, although she acts carefree she's suffering from some serious trauma, as this chapter should answer. Thanks for the review I liked reading it.**

 **So I read up on the abilities Tailed Beasts give their Jinchūriki, I liked Kurama's but added an additional ability to better protect his young host with the little balls of fire. They kind of function like Gaara's sand does when he's a child, on their own and without consent from the host. They'll be around a lot in this story and will possibly be getting names and mild personalities.**

 **Tsubaki calls her beast, Kurama, Ramen, for whatever reason she believes his name is Kuramen thus springing the nickname.**

 **Random Question: Is there an exam for the Jonin Rank or is that just appointed by the Kage or a Superior?**

 **Thanks to everyone for any reviews, favorites, or follows.**


	4. Chapter 4

It was silent, so very quiet. It was dark, the blackness engulfed all and any light. Yet she was used to this darkness everything had been covered in shadows until recently. She could see everything through a bright light, not those white lights that everyone was always talking about. No, this light came out in a light blue. She imagined it looked like the color of the sea, she's never seen the sea before.

The sky was a few shades lighter than the blue that outlined this world. She had learned from the very being that had restored her sight that the blue was called chakra. He told her that every living thing, big or small, had this chakra.

Even her, she had chakra in her body, an unnaturally massive amount of it. There had been something wrong with her chakra. Her friend had been kind enough to stabilize her lethal chakra, he kept it from feeding off the nutrients in her body, kept her from getting sick and weakly. He had not been fast enough to save her eyes, not even his incredible healing power could reverse the damage that had already been dealt.

If she couldn't see he couldn't see so for the first year or so he taught her a new method of sight. He let her use his chakra, he had more than enough to spare and with a body as puny as her own he barely noticed it was gone. He taught her how to flare their chakra, how to pulse it, to refine and control it, how to see through it.

He taught her about the world and those within it. The civilians and the Shinobi. He promised her that as his vessel he would keep her alive and healthy for he was now a part of her and if she died so did he. They were entwined, his life hers and her life his. Having never had a vessel so sickly and frail, he had to go further with his methods of protection. So he created them, nine balls of the hottest flames he could summon, his Kitsune Flames.

They were tasked with a job that he could not always be around to do without risking harm to his broken vessel, protect her. They did their jobs very well, even now they fluttered around the empty corridor, watching and waiting, no bigger than a fly.

The place they were at was unfamiliar to the little girl. Tsubaki was seated on a chair just outside the very big doors that led into a room she was not allowed into at the moment. Her beautiful snow white hair had been pulled up into a bun today, two chopsticks kept it in place. She wore a slightly heavier kimono then the ones she was used to wearing around the estate.

She could not say what color but liked to think it was one of her favorite colors, black, purple, or red. Her feet were bare as they have been for the last two years. No one touched her feet, not even Hanabi Okasan. Her feet were important to her more so than her hands, eyes, even ears. Her friend taught her about the elements the nature types, there were several out there but he only taught her about the one she was strongest with, which was earth release.

It was through the earth, the ground, she could feel even the most minute vibration that slipped through the land. Kuramen called it her 'seismic sense'. Through this heightened seismic sense, she could visualize where people were, their relative distance to her, and their physical build, mixed that in with her 'echolocation' and in a way, even though she was blind she could practically see better than any person with working eyes.

She was skilled for a girl her age, or at least that is what Hanabi Okasan often told her. Tsubaki was weak in mind, Ramen had made her body strong but there was nothing he could do about the fears that plagued her mind.

Such as now, she had her legs pulled against her chest refusing to let her feet touch the floor. Their chakra pulsed through the empty hallways, picking up the four smaller balls of chakra that hung on the ceiling. Everyone had a chakra signature, with Ramen's adept sensor skills and Tsubaki's 'sight' rarely did they ever miss spotting anything. Their signatures were compressed, scrunched so tightly together she might have mistaken them for civilians.

 _"They don't like us."_ His deep voice rumbled like an earthquake in her head. Ramen wasn't big on chatting with her. When they were alone she would talk nonstop with him, the conversation always onesided but she knew he was listening because he had nothing better to do. _"Don't let your guard down, Kit. Just like the ones from last night, they will kill you unless you kill them first."_ His words had her hugging her legs just a little closer.

She wanted to forget about that night. So much fear, death, and fire. It wasn't the first attempt on her life, but those ones had been different. She hadn't sensed them coming, neither had Kuramen. Threats were often sought out and neutralized by the Fox Fire before they could come within five feet of the girl. The Demon often took care of such situations without the child being aware.

At that time they hadn't because they couldn't, those people had no chakra to sense, the lack of chakra had not given the demon any warning or allowed him to sense the killing intent honed in on his vessel.

Kurama did not want to die and for some unexplained reason, he did not want this girl to either. The demon often tried to summon up his usual hatred for all Shinbobi and all of humanity for caging him, however, when he did this something would surface immersed in the depths of his memory. A boy with this stupid smile with almost radiant chakra, and just like that the demon's hatred would quell itself before it even got started.

He had this deep urge to protect, not just this girl but this village and all those who resided in it and he couldn't recollect why. For now, he focused this protectiveness on his vessel, telling himself that he was guarded her because he wanted to survive and nothing more.

Tsubaki's head snapped up from where it had been resting on her knees, muscles tensed when she noticed that the four chakra signatures were no longer present. She was just about ready to pulse her chakra and double check when two new signatures showed up directly in front of her. They were young, handfuls of inches taller than herself, sturdy although lacked the height and build of normal adults.

Both boys maybe a two or three years older than herself, but what caught her attention was the fact that their signatures were utterly identical. Everyone's signatures were just a little different, unique, even chakra clones. These two seemed to be an exception.

Tsubaki leaned further back in her chair when the pair leaned in closer to look at her. One of the flames, Hatchi, had drifted lower towards the pair in hopes of claiming the boys' attention. Hatchi got within fight feet and then was suddenly engulfed by a mass of chakra that sprung up from the floor. She jumped a little in her chair, her face must have been portrayed some of the horror she was feeling because both boys turned their heads to gaze behind them where Hatchi had been eaten up. She couldn't tell where the ball of fire was until it flared with life, burning hotter as it gathered more of demonic chakra to fuel its flames.

The other remaining eight orbs were circling overhead, swarming light bees, curious bees. Another one, San, went lower to inspect the mass of chakra and like Hatchi was engulfed inside the mass. She sank her teeth into her lip and did her best not to spike her chakra, Hanabi Okasan had been stressed when bringing her over to the place.

She kept telling to behave and not to cause trouble, the Hyūga leader had not been happy with last nights incident and it seemed to Tsubaki that Hanabi Okasan was in trouble with the Hokage. So she promised to be good while the Clan leader talked with the intimidating people in the other room. Being good meant being unseen and unheard, drawing attention to herself would not be good.

So she sat there as biting down on her lip and tried to take in deep breaths of air in and out to steady her frantic heartbeat. One of them, the boys, had glanced over in her direction with a flicker of puzzlement in his chakra. The mass of chakra was withdrawn, pulling away from Hatchi and San, and the two balls quickly floated up back to their fiery family. The orbs rejoiced at the return of their numbers and bobbed up and down in an expression of their delight.

Tsubaki relaxed her grip on her lip, tasting the blood as it leaked into her mouth. She wiped at her lower lip with a shaky hand before it could stain her gown.

"Sorry-"  
"About that-"  
"It moves-"  
"On its'-"  
"Own sometimes." There were two voices speaking in turn, both in the same flat pitch and tone that it almost appeared like one person.

If either of them was put off by the orbs drifting around they gave no acknowledgment. When the two took a step in unison forwards causing Tsubaki to lean away from them, with nothing but air to hold her weight the little girl tipped dangerously close to the edge of the chair.

She should have taken a painful spill over the side, nstead, her hand found something solid carefully holding her weight, it slithered between her tiny fingers feeling kinda of soft and warm yet hard and rough at the same time. She quickly scooted her bottom back properly on her seat and her savior, that mass of chakra, fell back onto the floor and returned to circling around the boys' feet.

Wanting a better picture, Tsubaki pulled just a little bit more of Raman's chakra into her core and pushed it outwards, everything was outlined in a reddish-orange hue with all living things having blue centers. She could see the chair she was sitting in, the large door ahead of her, the walls around her, even the clothing the boys wore, the small individual gourds on one's waist and the big single gourd that hung on the other's back.

The mass of chakra swirling around their feet was chakra laced sand which explained the texture. She's never seen such a weird technique before, how did they make the sand move like that?

Her curiosity overrode her anxiety and dread for a moment, Tsubaki legs fell off the chair to hang over the edge of the front as she leaned forward to watch the sand. She had one of the orbs, Ichi the fastest, dip down towards the sand and the child let out a little giggle when the sand moved like a frog's tongue to snatch at the Orb.

Ichi evades it and swiftly returned to the others out of the sand's range. Ichi glowered a slightly darker blue than the rest of the balls, seemingly upset that it had almost gotten swallowed up.

"Do you-"  
"Wanna play?"  
"We need a-"  
"Princess for-"  
"Our game?" The two interrupted her playful mood when they spoke up. Her interest was caught, she's never been asked to play before.

"Oh, but I'm not a princess." She answered, dejectedly.

"That's alright-"  
"We'll pretend." The two quickly reassured her. They hadn't seen any other kids around here and the girl certainly resembled a princess dressed as she was.

Tsubaki had a mini internal struggle with herself, Hanabi Okasan had told her to behave. She really didn't want to disappoint the woman, yet at the same time, she really did want to play. Sitting here in fear was getting boring and she's never ever been asked to play before. The boys seemed nice enough.

 _"She never told you that you had to stay here, Kit."_ Kuramen voiced, mildly annoyed with her struggle to make a decision over something so stupid. It was true that Hanabi had never verbally told the girl to stay in one spot, it had been silently implied though. He decided to ignore that little fact. Besides, the demon was curious just like his vessel about these two, he's never sensed them in the village before.

With the demon's words dancing around in her head, she smiled lightly to herself. The girl pushed off the chair and set her bare feet on the ground. A second world blossomed within her mind's eyes, she could see beyond the doors that blocked her chakra and into the room ahead of her. She noticed there were more than the five heartbeats that had been originally in the room, she knew Hanabi Okasan's, there was that man's slower calmer beat who had carried her home last night, and then the three who had been on the rooftops as well.

There four new ones were unfamiliar to her but the chakra signatures marked them as the four who had been watching outside the door, and one new one, his chakra signature would have been the strongest in the room if not for that man's, his heartbeat thumped in a steady rhythm like that man's as well. When had he gotten in the room?

Tsubaki was drawn out of her pondering when two bigger hands entwined themselves with her own. There was a boy, one on each side of her, the sand moved lazily around their feet but slowly started picking up speed and fast. She tightened her grip on their hands instead of pulling away as the sand made a miniature tornado, abruptly her entire world was distorted and nausea punched her in the gut as they left the Hokage Tower behind.

* * *

This Hyūga was not a pleasant person to be standing before. The sea-foam eyes watched as the mild dispute between the Uchiha and the Hyūga ahead of him. The Kazekage had been on his way over to the Leaf Village already, being summoned by Sasuke Uchiha to discuss the matter on Naruto. He had brought his sons along with him, leaving the pair to their own devices outside the Tower, their mother was at home along with Garra's brother, Kankurō, to take care of the village in his stead.

He would have left his sons at home with their mother, unfortunately, he feared for the state of his village should he leave both his children and his wife at home without proper supervision.

"You made me her legal guardian! So I'm telling you that I will not allow you to send my daughter away. " The Hyūga's sharp tone interrupted the Kazekage's train of thought, returning it to the conversation in front of him. He could see Hanabi Hyūga's icy facade creaking as her growing chakra signature expressed her frustration. The Uchiha remained stone cold, his elbows rested on the massive desk in front of him, fingers entwined as he rested his chin on top of them. The visible pupil remained solely focused on the Hyūga for a few more seconds.

"You're her guardian only in name. Officially she belongs to Konoha. I agreed to have the proper paperwork done if you held up your end of the deal. You failed, Hanabi. You lied in reports and gave me false information. She killed six children and burned down the back of your Compound." A long paused came as silence ate up the room while the pair stared at each other waiting for one to break it.

"She'll be less of harm to the public and herself with proper training." Garra cut in, finding himself bored with the ongoing conversation. They had yet to discuss Naruto's condition and the man found him slightly annoyed with lack of knowledge on his first friend.

"She can train here." Hanabi objected, turning her eyes to Garra. She kept her tone even and controlled if not a little hostile. Garra could...emphasize with her to a point having two children of his own. He did not and would not want to send them away, but as a Kage, if they were a threat to his village he would do what had to be done.

"How? She's not an average shinobi." From what he's heard the girl had a stronger connection with the Nine-Tails then even Naruto had as a child. It seemed to be more vocal and active in the girl's day to day life like Shukaku had been in his. The difference, however, was the lack of bloodlust, pain, and isolation. "You have no idea what it is like to be a Jinchūriki. She'll be better trained by me." In a time when there had been nine Jinchūriki, it was rare to be given training by one considering they all lived in separate villages.

Garra no longer had Shukaku sealed within him, he did understand better than anyone in this room what it was like to be sealed with a demon. Logically he was the best choice in training Tsubaki.

Hanabi was unable to come up with good enough reasoning when it seemed like everyone in this room was against her. Sakura, Kakashi, and Shikamaru remained a present silent party as the exchange went on. It went soundless again for a couple of heartbeats until Garra abruptly turned towards the door that led into the hallway.

There was a spike of chakra coming from behind the door, two that blended into one. Garra knew those signatures well. He moved toward the door and flung it open in time to see the last speck of sand vanishing in a swirl of wind. "Now what are they up too?" He muttered lowly underneath is breath. Ginkaku and Kinkaku had more of their mother in them then they did him. He was worried about what mischief they would cause.

* * *

This was not how he wanted to spend his Monday. He should be out training with his Sensei and teammates right now. The eldest of the Uchiha siblings was sitting on a uncomfortable chair watching over the four sleeping individuals. In the hospital bed, his two little sisters had managed to squeeze themselves on either side of the youngest Uchiha. Ryuu appeared rather comfortable with both girls on either side of him.

Akira would have been suffocated and most likely shoved them away. He and Ryuu were polar opposites majority of the stuff the youngest seemed to thoroughly enjoy would have irked the oldest to no end.

Resting near their legs, his mother hair concealed half her face and her hands gripped the covers so tightly they were losing color from the lack of blood flow. He's lost count of how many times he has smoothed out her tensed fists. The night before she had been in tears when Hanabi brought in Ryuu. He didn't see his mother cry, not very often, there was the one time when Sasunata was a baby.

She was sick or something, mother acted the same way she did now with Ryuu, sad and refusing to move from her side. She hasn't eaten or drank anything since dinner last night. Ryuu hasn't woken up or stirred since then either. It was a little concerning.

Sakura had shown up within the Hyuga Compound unexpectedly with Father and some odd ivory haired child in his arms. Sakura had extracted, analyzed, and managed to produce an antidote to counter the poison in Ryuu's system within a few hours. Apparently, it had taken her a little longer to procure an antidote since the poison within his body wasn't something she's ever seen.

They had no idea what it did to Ryuu, there was nothing visibly that Sakura could find. Still, Ryuu would not wake up, locked in some induced coma. Akira rose to his feet, wincing as he felt the ache in his backbone and legs. His father had left before the sun had risen with the simple order of having Akira watch over the family. He's been here for over twelve hours now.

Akira stretched his arms over his head as he stood, relaxing the muscles in his back. His eyes zone in on the smallest figure trapped between the bodies of the girls. His skin was paler than usual and had a sickly tint to it but his breaths were strong and stable. There was something sitting in Akira's chest, it felt like he had swallowed a rock that hadn't reached his stomach.

It made it hard to breathe, impossible to swallow and hurt worse than any physical wound he's ever acquired. He couldn't put a name to what this feeling was. Akira was amazing at just about everything he did, however, ask him to explain the emotions he felt and his mouth would hang open like a fish out of water. He was like a ball of tangled yarn when it came to his feelings.

The parts that are untangled are available, useable; the rest is a mess, useless until it is untied. That mess feels endless and at most times unyielding.

He had been fine emotion wise when it was just him, Sasunata and Himawari. Then Ryuu showed up and everything became so jumbled. His mother had taught him to be loving and caring to his younger siblings, his father installed a sense of responsibility and protectiveness for them. It had been easy to follow through when it had just been the three of them.

Ryuu was different, Akira had been overjoyed upon hearing that he'd finally get a little brother after having two younger sisters. He bragged to the children at the Acadamy and spoke of pride whenever the adults asked about his little brother. There was nothing that could have made him happier than getting a little brother at that time. He wasn't sure when those feelings got eclipsed.

It might have been when his father brought him and his sisters to see their mother in the hospital. She had looked similar to how Ryuu did now but worse. Father had said that Ryuu's birth had been rather difficult on mother and that he'd be the last Uchiha child they would have thankful not blunt enough to explin just how strenuous the process had been.

Akira had been indifferent to that, not happy but not sad either. They found Ryuu bundled up and sleeping against their mother chest. Father had told them that the youngest would be different from them, at that age, Ryuu had looked like any other baby, kind of fat, small, and cute in a slightly ugly newborn way. He looked like a normal baby until those eyes of his opened.

One eye was a pitch black seemingly devouring any light that came in contact with it and the other one was such a pure white he could see his reflection in it. Akira had felt his first bitter emotion upon learning that Ryuu had been born with both his mother and father's Kekki Genkai, something that had been unheard of until now. Ryuu was special.

It sort of spiraled out of his hands after that. As Ryuu grew, Akira found himself being harsher with the youngest Uchiha then he had been with his sisters. His words were clipped and sharp when asked the most innocent of questions, his temper rose faster and insults flew more freely. He could be civil when in the presence of his parents, and not so civil when not supervised.

When it came to training he found himself being rougher and allowing more 'accidents' to happen, he wasn't certain if his father turned a blind eye to it or just assumed it was just 'boys being boys' but his mother was not as forgiving. When Hinata sat him down and asked why he was so mean to his brother, why it seemed like he hated him, Akira gave her no explanation.

He simply apologized for harming Ryuu and promised to be more careful in the future. After that he supposed he became more withdrawn from his mother, he didn't hurt Ryuu anymore... at least not physically, never left a mark that was seen visibly.

He didn't like the fact that she thought he hated Ryuu. He supposed that his actions spoke loudly of hatred, but he didn't hate his little brother. He could say from the bottom of his heart he did not hate Ryuu. Akira found himself always swift to defend Ryuu against those who mocked and belittled him, even quicker to threaten death to those who faked friendship and whispered behind his brother's back, and he's lost count on how many times he stood before his father having to explain why he had placed an older shinobi in the hospital.

Akira still felt a great sense of responsibility and strong instinct to protect his little brother from all and everything that would do him harm. His younger siblings meant the world to him, he loved, cared, and would lay down his life for any one of them in a heartbeat if need be. But there was just something about Ryuu that made this disgusting, mean, and cruel monster show up in Akira.

There was a sense of guilt that ate at him whenever he made the boy cry or saw him holding back tears. Akira never understood why Ryuu put up with it and never complained to their parents about he had done. He wanted to apologize to Ryuu, it was always on the tip of his tongue but the words he wanted to say never came out.

He wanted to act one way but always did another. He didn't expect anyone to understand him, he didn't even understand it himself. He loved his brother he knew that for certain, but for the life him he could never express it to him. It was like every time he looked him and those eyes this anger, jealousy, and envy overtook him and all he could be is mean. He took no pleasure out of hurting him, Akira didn't know how to make this stop. There was something wrong with him.

He was a mess. He knew it. He had no idea how to fix it, none of it at all.

The boy raised his hands to wipe at his eyes as he found the tears rolling out of them. Akira. Did. Not. Cry. So why was he now? Maybe it was the pain in his chest, it had traveled to his stomach and was twisting it into tender knots. His body froze as he finished wiping the evidence of sadness away and felt the eyes him. As soon as he made the move to turn towards the ajar door, he heard feet retreating and fast.

It might have been the fact that they were running or possibly the fact that they saw something he didn't want to show anyone, but all the same, it had Akira bolting into the hospital hallway in a burst of chakra with two throwing stars traveling through the air at their intended target.

Neither star ever reached its destination, a wall of sand shot up and consumed the metal projectiles. Akira had no time to register what just happened nor react as a huge amount of force slam his directly against the wall. The pressure increase dropping more weight on his neck and chest marking very difficult to breathe.

Sand had encased everything below his neck allowing him to see a kid maybe a little older then his brother standing in front of him. The boy had fair skin that took on a slightly tan hue, turquoise eyes, and bright auburn hair. He had a wide leather band from his left shoulder to his right hip with a gourd attached to his back. It took him a moment to find the forehead protector strapped around the boy's wrist. Suna?

His thoughts were abruptly shattered as breathing suddenly became that much harder and painful. The boy in front of him had his hand raised and was slowly closing it, making the sand Akira was ensnared in constricting around him.

"Oi! Gin do not kill him." A second voice called a few feet down the hallway where the first boy's identical lookalike stood with an unmovable frown on his face and a little girl hiding behind his back.

"Huh?"

"I'm certain father told us that we're not allowed to kill any of the Konoha Shinobi."

"Are you talking to me?"

"Yes, who do you think I was talking to?"

"Well, not me. I'm Kin and your Gin."

"What?! That preposterous I'm Kin your Gin."

"I'm Kin, Mother said so."

"I'm Kin, Father said so."

"He's turning blue! Put him down please." A third voice broke up the arguing twins as both heads rotated to stare at the blue-faced boy.

"Hmm... so he is."

"Mother said-

"If you strangle someone-"

"Long enough they turn-"

"Purple."

"Please don't." The twins turn to stare at tearful eyes Tsubaki wore and then looked at each other.

"Fine, we'll let him go-"

"Only because you asked-"

"Hime-sama" The pair spoke simultaneously as the one holding his hand up dropped it. The sand crept back down to the ground and returned to its place around his feet. Gravity took action and Akira took a harsh fall to the ground, one hand pressed against his chest as he gasped for breath. As soon as he heard the footsteps drawing closer, Akira raises his head as his Kekki Genkai activates itself wordless with his rise in temper.

Tsubaki stops what she's doing and backpedals at the sight. There is an awkward and very tense silence that settles just outside the room the Uchiha family rested in. No one knew what would have happened if she hadn't shown up like she did.

"Excuse me, there can be no fighting in the hospital if you-" A woman with dark brown hair, equally brown eyes, and a rather massive chest walked up behind them. The nurse's mind sort of went blank when she laid eyes on the most adorable little girl she's ever seen. "Ah! You're so cute! Kawaii! So Kawaiiiiiii!" The woman had Tsubaki up in her arms and wrapped in a hug before either twin could react.

Tsubaki, being the ever so polite and well-mannered little girl she was, stifled her urge to scream and pushed the want to cry in order to suffer through this strange woman's hug.

Akira's anger gave away to confusion and just as his Byakugan deactivated itself, he swore he saw something abnormal about the woman and the girl. He was about to reactive to make sure that he saw was really what he just saw, although the woman had shifted her attention from Tsubaki, who fell into the waiting arms of the twins, to him within the time he took his next breath.

The nurse leaned over and had that cheery smile on her lips as she locked eyes with Akira. What starts as a contortion of his stomach becomes a feeling of being smothered by an invisible hand. His breathing becomes erratic, deep, then shallow. Fear engulfs his brain, knocking all other thoughts as soon as their eyes meet. There was something terrifying about this nurse.

"You have the most beautiful eyes." The woman's voice comes out as sweet as honey. "I'd be careful with what you look at if you'd like to keep them in your head." She's already straightening up by the time _he_ made his appearances.

"Ginkaku, Kinkaku. What are you doing?" The deep voice has all of the head moving to watch the Kazekage as he walks down the hallway. The boys widen their eyes at the sight of their father and look down at the floor guiltily.

"Akira-kun! There you are." The melodic voice of his mother has him looking up at her as she peeks around the doorframe. "I was worried about you." Hinata bends down to help the boy off the ground. In her peripheral vision, she catches sight of the red hair. "Oh! Garra-kun. What are-"

His mother's words go in one ear and out the other, Akira is too busy watching the nurse retreating further down the hallway. Akira's never been so horribly terrified as he had been in that very moment, and if his eyes had been right, which he was still very skeptical on, that woman didn't have an ounce of chakra in her body... just what the hell was that?

* * *

 **I am sorry for the super late update. I wasn't really paying attention to time since my last update. I hope this chapter makes up for it. I recently found out that Garra has an adoptive son in the anime...I honestly don't really like him. He reminds me more of Kankuro over Garra which is mostly why I don't like him. If you gonna give him a kid at least make it resemble the parent a little bit. I think they did a pretty good job of making the next gen children, I would have no problem(with most of them) with telling who the parents are. Garra's kid I would say is Kankuro at once.**

 **I might of made the Sand Manipulation a Kekki Genkai for Garra's kids, in truth you'd only get the Sand thing from having Shukaku sealed within a ninja. I thought it was cool and I really didn't want to have them jam Shukaku inside of the twins right now. The One-Tail will play a vital part in the story later on.**

 **The twins are a little...weird. But the woman Garra married is not sane of mind, like at all, we'll met her later.**

 **I think I'll have one more chapter with them in this year and then skip ahead maybe two or three years because this is going a little slower then I was expecting.**

 **I have a question if anyone could answer it I'd be really grateful. As you know I'm not watching Boruto. But I can't find any information on the current teams and Team Leaders in the New Gen. besides Boruto's(which will be staying the same I think). So if anyone can tell me about that it'd help a lot.**

 **To answer some questions for Chapter 2, Two years ago, Sasuke had been officially reinstated as a member of the Leaf(he had been for a while considering he was already married to Hinata and had kids). He served as an Top ANBU member and was often out on long missions so didn't have as much time to spend in the village.**

 **He wasn't really gone but he wasn't really around all that much as an ANBU, now taking up the job of Hokage, he's around the village a lot more(much to Hinata's delight). Sasuke's solo days came to an end after he married Hinata(unlike Sakura) she put her foot down on the whole leave for years(or however long he left) because she wanted a family and kids.**

 **It's one thing if you going off and doing missions to serve the village(and providing for the family) and another thing to go off on your own for Kami knows how long to do whatever he was doing(I think he was doing something with Orchimaru's bases...?) He had more then enough time on his own when he left Sakura waiting for him to come back and marry her(good for her in the Canon for waiting, obviously she did not finishing waiting for him in the fic.)**

 **Chapter 3 Questions: This should chapter should shine some light on the whole Akira hatred thing. Akira is going to be a very...complex character. Akira is an eaiser character to write for since he relates to me in someways.**

 **Thanks for reading. Sorry for any errors.  
**


	5. Chapter 5

It smelt like blood. It hung thick and overwhelming in the air. Every breath, no matter how shallow, was like breathing in a lung full of blood in and out. He was grotesque. The man strung up by his arms, the shackles having long ago rubbed the skin raw around the wrists. Already his eyes were swollen over and bloody spit drooled from his slack jaws. The blooming purple patches on the torso told of internal ruptures, likely organ damage.

He was now as revolting as he should be, finally, the outside reflects the man within. It did not matter how much he was beaten, no matter how loud he screamed, or how much of that precious life liquid was splattered on the dirty ground, his torturer did not feel any better. The pain he caused only made him numb, the sadistic thrill he once obtained when making sure that everyone hurt as much as he did just wasn't there anymore.

Sasuke Uchiha stared at the broken man in front of him with void emotion. They've been at this for hours, this interrogation has gone on longer than Sasuke would have liked. After Gaara's departure from the Tower, Hanabi left soon after being unable to locate Tsubaki. Without Garra, Sasuke found no reason to continue and adjourned the meeting. They'd meet up later after, hopefully, everyone has had enough time to think.

As badly as he had wanted to return to his family, the business needed to be handled, business being the beaten man in front of him. The Leaf Village had their own Intelligence Division and a Special force called the Torture and Interrogation Force that dealt in matters like this, led by Ibiki Morino. Sasuke knew the Force and its leader rather well, he had spent an entire year here in this very building with Ibiki Morino for the first few months and then simply in isolation.

Sasuke could have let them handle this, he knew they'd get the job done well. However, the fact that this particular man had been apart of the group that harmed his youngest, Sasuke couldn't help but feel this as a personal slight against his clan, his family. He had promised to watch over this village in Naruto's stead, to protect it as his brother once did, but before their wishes and his promises, Hinata and his children came first. They would always come first.

"Let's try this again." He spoke in a voice that was void of emotion and blank in tone. "Who are the Lords?" Sasuke raised his visible crimson eye to take in the pure fear that engulfed his prisoner once again. His breathing becomes erratic, deep, then shallow. His body goes inflexible and his heart picks up this frantic beat. Every time Sasuke has asked this question he has gotten the same response. It was getting dull. "How many Lords are there?"

"Seven Lords of Sin." The answer ended with a low groan as the prisoner's bruised jaw was forced to move. Outwardly the Uchiha remained stone cold, inwardly there was a sigh of relief as he finally got something else out of the man. As much as he wanted to know more about these Sins, he wasn't up for another meltdown. Sasuke would gather what he could out of this miserable excuse for a human and then kill him, simple.

"What do they want with the Hyūga child?" That question had the man gritting his teeth and whimper with the action. He wasn't going to talk which was fine with Sasuke, the Kage pulled out a kunai and approached the terrified man with the grace and ease of a cat bearing down on a mouse. The sharp tip slide through muscle and flesh like butter, slicing into organs as the Uchiha slammed the kunai into the man's gut. The scream that followed was deafening as Sasuke slowly began twisting the weapon around.

"The Tailed Beast!" He shrieked as tears streamed down his pale cheeks. Sasuke stopped moving the weapon around and left there, watching as the scarlet liquid seeped out around the silver metal and fell to the floor. "They want to bring the end of this world." The prisoner wheezed. "The Master wants-cough- he wants-cough cough..." His words were broken off by a fit of coughs. It was a barking cough, at the end of each cough it had that whistling sound you get when the airways are closing up.

They were coming thick and fast now and he was struggling to get enough air. The cough sounded loose and wet like thick phlegmy mucus was sliding up and down his throat with each violent expulsion of air. Sasuke was quick on his feet as he avoids the blood being projected up and out of the man's mouth. He did nothing but watch as the prisoner's ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and fingertips started weeping blood. The prisoner's whole entire body shook in some sort of seizure before lying motionless.

Sasuke's remained still as his eyes searched for some sort of sign of life. There was no rise or fall of the chest, no twitch of muscles, nothing. Creeping closing, the Hokage's lower jaw twitched as his fingers reached out to check for a pulse. He cursed low underneath his breath before cutting the body loose from the chains. Another division, the Analysis Team, headed by Inoichi Yamanaka, specializes in extracting information directly from the target's mind.

Part of the Analysis Team is also responsible for carrying out autopsies, which is what Sasuke would be needing if he wanted find out what the hell just happened here. Unfortunately, with a delicate matter such as this, he couldn't trust them with something so important. No, a certain pink-haired medical-nin would be needing to clear her plate for this. He needed Kakashi and Shikamaru as well, maybe they could make more sense about the information given to him than he could.

* * *

Ryuu awakes without warning, eyes flung so wide each iris is a perfect orb of dark chocolate. His heart is pounding, mind empty. It's as if a hypodermic of adrenaline has been emptied into his carotid. Every sense urging him to claw his way to standing. Drowsiness gets folks dead, fast. Only the paranoid survive. Two things immediately spring to his mind: he can't move at all, and he's not alone.

He feels a weight on his chest, pressing him down and preventing him from sitting up. But it's worse than that – he can't move his arms or legs. He can't even move his lips to call out for help. This wasn't the first time he's experienced this, this has been happening to him since he was two. He's not sure who or what is pushing on his chest. It's too dark to see. But he knows there's a presence there. Something strange. Something frightening. After a minute's panic, the feeling passed and he regains control over his motor functions.

Ryuu remains flat on his back while taking in a large lung full of air and calming himself. When he was younger he always began screaming at the top of his lungs until one of his siblings or his parents came and soothed his fears. Nowadays, he's managed to drown his fear and panic in concern of burdening his family, he stopped screaming out loud and found his way to his sisters' room. Sakura-sama called it sleep paralysis, it was very uncommon in children his age and there wasn't much she could do for it.

It's been at least a month or two since he's last had that problem. As the youngest Uchiha untangled himself from his sisters' embrace, his eyes slowly adjusted to the dark room. This wasn't his bedroom, across from him in a chair was his brother. Akira's eyes were shut tightly and he looked oddly peaceful in his slumber. It was rare to see the eldest sleeping, as rare as him letting Ryuu climb into his bed after the child had one of his 'attacks'. The boy pushed his random thoughts away as Sasunata turned in her sleep. Himawari snoring sounded like a cat purring.

He was careful not to wake any of his siblings as he slipped out of the bed. A chill crept up his back as his bare feet touched the smooth tile flooring. There was a shock of pain that raced through his wrists and had him chewing on his lower lip till the pain passed. He pulled up his sleeves to stare at the small almost needle sized holes in his wrists. It all came flashing back to him at the sight, those strangers, that snake lady, the little girl. The girl! Where was the girl?

Wordlessly and with no need for hand seals, Ryuu's eyes activated themselves. A gasp left his mouth as crippling agony shoots through his right eye, he has to hold his breath to stifle his cry as he slaps both hands over his eye. His fingers wet themselves with bright red blood as it leaks out of his closed eye. He needs his mother, he's overused his Sharingan, the chakra pathway that led to the right of his eye was clotted again.

The pathways to the right eye were thinner than the ones on the left which caused chakra to build up now and then which put pressure on his blood vessels till they broke and in turn had the blood bleeding from his eye. The whole process was very painful which is why he needed his mother, and his mother alone to remove the built up chakra in his pathway. If it continued to build up it could do a lot more than just bleed out.

The boy deactivated his Sharingan while leaving his Byakugan active to help him find his mother. He endured the pain by bitting the inside of his cheek and breathing through his nose. Once he was certain he hadn't disturbed any of his siblings, he crept out of the room and shut the door softly behind him. Night had fallen and a few of the lights in the hallways were out. He found his mother soft yet mighty chakra a few hallways down, he picked his aunt, Hanabi's, chakra with her.

There were a few Hyūga hidden in the shadows, none of them known to him personally. Ryuu kept one hand pressed firmly against his bleeding eye and was about to open his mouth to call to his mother, but stopped when he caught something out of his peripheral vision. Below him, in the lowest floor in the building, there was a man who's chakra was unlike anything he's ever seen. It was the same blue as everyone else's chakra the difference being was his seemed to shine, kind of like the sun.

It was strong and flowed through his body like water rushing through a river. It reminded him of his father's somehow. Who was in the basement of the hospital? A spark of heat popped in front of his face drawing his attention away from the ground to the orb of elemental chakra in front of him. It hovered a few inches away from his face, bobbing up and down seemingly waiting for him to follow it. His concern about his eye was abruptly shoved to the back of his mind, the girl!

His chakra propelled him in the direction of the orb as it floated off. His chakra reserve still wasn't what it should be so he had to keep from moving too quickly or using too much. He was led up several flights of stairs all the way to a door marked roof. This was normally locked unless you were staff, he didn't give it much of a second thought when he found that the door was already opened. All he cared about was the orb and the girl, the one he failed to protect. _'If father had been there he would never have failed to protect her...'_

As he reached the fenced rooftop, his Bykugan swiftly honed on the small female with the crimson chakra entwined with her bluish one. The eight balls gliding around her head became nine as the last one returned to its group. As he saw that it was just the girl and her orbs on the roof his body loosened the tensed muscles. His feet brought him closer to the girl with each step. A nervous smile crossed his chapped lips as the girl turned towards him at his approach, he was terrified she'd be cross with him.

It didn't matter that their meeting had been fleeting nor that he barely knew a thing about the girl, he didn't even have her name, she had left quite the impression on the young Uchiha. The impression was strong enough to leave him worried about what the young girl thought of him. She was lonely like he was, just a different type of lonely. He had so many people he was surrounded by every day of his life, yet he felt alienated from the entire world at the same time.

One would think someone born with two different kekki genkai would be loved by his village, but he saw the way the villagers looked at him, the children, even the ninja. He was different, so different. He didn't know how to interact with children his age, when he tried they shunned him, insulted him, hurt him, so what was the point in trying anymore. His clan'srocky past and his striking similar in appearance to his father didn't help him in the slightest.

When they looked at him they saw the 'traitor'. The young boy who turned his back on his home, abandoning his village, to obtain power from another 'traitor' in his quest for vengeance. It didn't matter how much his father changed, in the back of their minds there was still fear, hatred, and more.

Ryuu was worse. His eyes. He had so much power, so much in someone so young, who would he become when he learned to fully harness all that power? No one knew what the future held and they feared him because of that. If he had been born with just one kekki genkai, just like his siblings he didn't think everyone would be so worried about him. He'd be just like everyone else, why couldn't he be just like everyone else?

"Ryuu!" The boy hadn't noticed that he had stopped moving towards his goal. He hadn't noticed he had frozen nor that he was digging his teeth so deeply into his cheek that blood had started filling his mouth. "Ryuu." The joy bundled into his name had him raising his head from his chest to look at the ivory haired girl who had the biggest grin on lips. "You're okay."

As she began to run over to him, a hand shot out grabbing the girl's wrist. Ryuu was confused until he stopped fueling chakra into his eye. There was a woman on the roof, a nurse of some sort. Had she been there the entire time? He hadn't even noticed her presence. Where was her chakra? Was she civilian, maybe that's why it was so low. But he couldn't pick up anything from her? His head spun in circles, looping around to the same question over and over again: where's the chakra?

"Ryuu." A sense of security washes over him as his name is called this time. Sasuke Uchiha strides across the rooftop as if he's been there the entire time. He takes a knee as his youngest comes running up to embrace him. The man smells strongly of fresh blood, but Ryuu ignores it having grown used to smelling the scent on the Clan leader. As his son clings to him with an unusual amount of desperation, Sasuke's eyes are focused on the curvy nurse holding the girl's wrist.

The woman lets her go as soon as she noticed his visible eye and plasters a pleasant smile on her lips. Tsubaki wanders over at a sluggish pace, seemingly half asleep as she reaches the males. Ryuu pulls his head from his father's chest, hand still covering his right eye, to give the girl a tentative smile. Sasuke attention returns to the nurse who is watching the children's interaction as any woman would with two adorable little one, with pure fondness.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm Melony. I found her up here up." She pointed to Tsubaki. "I was just about to bring her down when you showed up." She spoke in a delightful tone as she explained herself. "Is he okay? I mean is that normal cause I can find a doctor if-" Sasuke, finding the babbling woman rather bothersome after all the shit he's done today and is in no mood for conversation. He wraps an arm around Ryuu's waist to pick him up followed by the little Hyūga and cradles the pair against his chest.

"He's fine." He mutters coldly, walking to the door and down the flight of stairs. The man has some questions for the children, such as why the two were on the roof, when had Ryuu woken up, and why was Tsubaki with that woman. Instead, he found his train of thought derailed as he listened to the kids talk to each other, the subject turning from their names to parents.

"He's my Tousan," Ryuu answered the question of how he knew the man carrying them. He couldn't help but wonder if Tsubaki knew his father's name or even who he was? She kept calling him 'mister' or 'man'.

"Oh... I don't have a Tousan." Tsubaki stated, pleased to know it was Ryuu's father who has helped out countless times. She liked Ryuu's father he was a nice man. She wondered if her father was a nice man, like Ryuu's.

"Hmm, you can share my Tousan."

"Really?! Can I?" As the boy nods his head as best he could from where it laid against his father's chest, Tsubaki gives him a warm smile of appreciation. "Arigatou."

Sasuke decides not to ask if he gets a say in this matter at all, instead, he shifts the kids' weight in his arms while breaking in on the conversation to address his son. "Ryuu, you should have gone to find your Kaasan as soon as you started having problems with your eye." His tone is stern yet gentle as he knows how sensitive the boy could be when he thought he had upset or disappointed Sasuke in any way. "I've told you countless times to be careful with how much strain you put on your dōjutsu."

"I'm sorry, Otousan." Came the weak reply as one tear falls slowly down his cheek. Ryuu knew his father wasn't yelling at him, it was just a reminder. It still hurt for some reason.

"I'm not mad." Sasuke is swift to reassure his son with a gentle squeeze around the waist and a kiss on the forehead. The coldblooded Uchiha was weak against tears, he couldn't stand making his children cry and rarely did he have to grieve about that with anyone but Ryuu. The older three weren't as big on tears as the youngest was, Himawari did find the oddest reasons to cry, thankfully, normally it was in Hinata's presence over Sasuke's.

Sakura had told them that the pathways in Ryuu's eyes would enlarge themselves the more he used his Sharingan, however, if he put to much strain on his the pathways or the clot got too big it could result in blindness and the loss of his kekki genkai. That thought alone brought an overwhelming amount of terror and pain to Sasuke, his son suffered enough as it was Sasuke wasn't sure what he'd do if that happened.

"Sasuke-kun! Ryuu-kun!" The man and his mini-me turned their heads as the Lioness of the Uchiha Clan ran over with the rest of the family on her heel. Sasuke climbed down the last few steps and handed her Ryuu who happily cuddled into the woman's arms. There was a mild scolding about running off although it stopped halfway through as soon as she noticed the way he was holding his eye.

Tsubaki, who had fallen asleep along the way, was jarred awake when all the commotion began. She didn't bother asking to be set down and nuzzled closer to Sasuke trying to go back to sleep. Himawari, Sasunata, and Akira had stopped a couple of feet away to stare at the floating balls hovering over everyone's heads. The orbs, seeing as there was no threat, one by one drifted down and blended themselves into the nine-tails chakra to sleep.

As his kids looked utterly perplexed, Hanabi Hyūga showed up from around the corner and jogged over to them to take Tsubaki from Sasuke. The voices and the chatter faded into the background when Sasuke tipped his head back to look up the long flights of stairs, he had this horrible feeling that he had just missed something very vital with that Melony woman. He couldn't dwell on the feeling for too long, Hinata demanded his attention with a question.

* * *

Damn it! So fucking close. If that kid hadn't shown up she would have had her. The woman's fist connected with a thick slab of concrete, shattering it into bits and pieces effortlessly. She was so close! The next time she saw that damn brat and his asshole father she was going to gut them and feed their inners to Gluttony.

"Your temper is still as explosive as ever." The tone of voice was flat and young, it caused Melony's back to straighten and her body to go stiff with horror.

"Master." The woman turned around to face the cloaked figure. Her legs dropped down so she could kneel and press her face so close to the ground her forehead touched the smooth pavement. "I didn't know you were coming if I had-"

"Pride informed me of one of my Homunculi cells being withdrawn from standby." The figure spoke with an eery amount of patience and control while pulling his hood from his face. The face of the boy was no older than eleven, his silver hair was straight, messy, cutting off in length near the middle of his neck with the bang just barely concealing his eyes. The right eye was a tiffany blue in color and the left an identical silver like his hair. The boy was rather attractive, perhaps even beautiful if it weren't for the scar on the left of his face.

The scar looked like an upside-down cross, a long, clean, vertical cut was made just underneath the left eye with three horizontal slashes, one made directly underneath the left eye. The longest slash, the one in the middle cut all the way across the bridge of his nose stopping just underneath the right eye, and the last slash, the shortest, at the bottom of his left cheek.

"Master, please...I o-o-only took them because I thought you wanted the demon." Melony pleaded while pressing herself firmly against the ground wishing the earth would swallow her whole right now.

"You shouldn't think. You should not be doing anything unless I tell you. Your an incompetent toy, Wrath." The boy closed the distances between them to grab the woman by her hair, yanking until the roots were torn from her scalp and small streams of blood trickled down her forehead. Melony squeezed her eyes shut to keep herself from screaming. "You are filth, garbage, a mere puppet I use for my amusement. You are nothing, don't think just because you've taken up the title of Lord that you have even an inkling of control over anything." The boy emphasized his words with a wave of his hand.

One by one by one, the fingers on her left hand were violently broken with a snap and a crack. The tiny bones could be seen jutting out of the thin walls of flesh as each finger was bent or twisted unnaturally. The woman cried, tears falling endlessly down her face, but she kept still and did not move from where she bowed and would not voice the incredible amount of pain she was going through. He would kill her should he catch the slightest whiff of weakness from her.

"You are expendable just like the last one. You are my pawn to move and do with as I please." The boy ranted on. "You made a mess, one that I had to come and personally clean up. I hate cleaning up messes, you're not a dog. You're not even a flea, you are a worthless piece of shit who was created to do my bidding." The boy snarled infuriated yet his voice never rose above an octave and his expression remained unmoving.

"The next time you move my toys without my consent, you going to wish you had a god to beg for forgiveness to." There was an audible break in the wrist that had the woman just barely restraining her whimpers. "The Uchiha is going to be bringing in a body, one of my toys I had to break. The Homunculus' body will fall apart in the next hour, get rid of it before then. Sloth will be coming to wake up the Uzumaki, its about time he's played his part." With a shaky head nod from the woman, the boy stepped passed the sobbing woman as she slowly got to her feet and cradled her injury, bloody, hand against her chest.

"And Wrath." The boy stopped to toss his words over his shoulder. "Stay away from the girl, if you touch her again I'll ripe your damn arm off." Melony managed to turn her cry into a gasp as she felt the tear in one of the ligaments that connect the collarbone to the shoulder blade. With the shoulder no longer anchored, the collarbone was pushed against the skin near the top of her shoulder causing a disgusting looking deformity. The boy was gone by the time another staff member found her passed out on the roof.

* * *

 **I'm sorry for the shorter chapter this was longer but I lost a good chunk when my laptop crashed. I wanted to get this up before the end of the month, so didn't have time to rewrite it. The months are getting busy with the holidays.**

 **Thanks for the super kind reviews and any favorite and follows, I really do appreciate them.**

 **Quick Question: Recently got a review from a guest who suggested I change some of the characters name around to better fit the pairing of the parents.** ** **I hadn't thought about how the names fit the pairing of the parents before so thanks for pointing that out.** I do like the idea of changing Sarada name her name is not bad but it could be better, Himawari will stay because I love her name, debating on B** **oruto in all honesty I don't like his name, the character is pretty interesting but the name not so much. So if anyone has anything to say on this go ahead and toss me a review. I'm open for suggestions.  
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 **Answer for Guest Chap. 4: As for Sasuke and his Solo life and Hinata needing him. In truth I really think Hinata is a very strong and able character, not exactly like Sakura but in her own special way. I would rather like to think that Sasuke decided to stay in his clan to help raise his family because Hinata asked/pleaded/ etc. him to rather than demanded. I'll have to go back and fix that tidbit in chapter 4 I've had a few comments about how OC that is of her, I'm just jesting about Hinata putting her foot down about him stay in the village.**

 **I'm not sure about Hinata not being able to raise her family on her own and constantly needed a guy around to help her. Yes, she is a cute house-wife type character, but I would think Sasuke would teach her how to be stronger, more confident, more demanding like an Uchiha. I'm not sure he wants a docile house wife, which I think was more Sakura than Hinata due to Sakura's life long crush on him.**

 **I can see Sakura arguing with him about certain things, but in the end would bend in his favor because he is Sasuke, whereas Hinata would want what is best for her family, and having four kids and a father who is constantly on missions is not exactly something I'd see her going for. It's not that she can't raise the kids on her own, it's more she wants a somewhat of a stable family environment for her children to grow up in which involved their father being around some times.**

 **Sasuke was gone for so long in the Canon that he came home and didn't even recognize his daughter(from what I can gather) that's way to much solo time if you ask me.  
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 **Here's a preview for everyone of what's going on in the next chapter because I feel bad about the shortness and cut off on this one.**

It had been years since she had to last done this, but with no one in the hallway to see her she felt she could indulge in her childish habit after everything she's been through in the past few days. Hinata Uchiha had her pointer fingers pressed against one another and was gently shooting a small stream of chakra through each finger, going back and forth. She could still feel the soft hands gripping her tiny ones as her mother instructed her on how to better control her chakra. Everyone always assumed that this was a nervous tick of hers when in truth it was merely something that helped steady her heart and recall her mother.

"Hinata." The kunoichi jerked her head up as her name bounced around the empty hallways. The Head Medical-nin, Sakura Uzumaki, made her way down the hallway with a guarded expression on her face. Hinata's hands fell to her side as she shot out of her chair and stared at her Sempai with growing anxiety in her eyes. "I'm am so sorry, Hinata." The guard was let down to allow Hinata to see just how much it pained her to say this. " We did everything we could to help him. But I'm afraid we'll have to remove his eye."


	6. Chapter 6

It hurts!

Oh, Kami it hurt so badly.

His heartache was was like a wolf eating at his chest, tearing it's way to his trembling organ. It was like an insatiable fire that burnt all the oxygen in his body leaving him broken and in pain. Nausea swirled unrestrained in his empty stomach. His head swam with half-formed regrets.

He was lying. Father wouldn't do this to him. He wouldn't hurt him like this.

For seven days he visited the Hyūga Compound and seven times he was turned away. There was always a nice branch member at the front entrance who told him that Tsubaki couldn't come out and play with him right now, she was busy. Being the empathic, tenderhearted, little six-year-old that he was, Ryuu never questioned it. He merely assumed that being the clan's heiress was a lot of work. So long as she was around, Ryuu could come and visit her any day.

 _She had to be sent her away._

He was a liar! A mean liar! Ryuu could still hear his father's voice echoing in his head. He regretted listening in on his parents' conversation.

 _She can't control it, she needed to go._

No.

 _A threat to the village..._

Tsubaki wasn't a threat. She was his friend, his only friend! Now she was gone. Now he had nobody. He was all alone again.

Loneliness eats you alive, swallowing every ounce of hope you had yet to spare. It feasts upon any happiness you have left, leaving behind empty carcass; full of despair and memories you can't seem to hold onto anymore. It takes your heart into its claws, squeezing out every bit of life you had circulating throughout your opaque veins. It craves for you to suffer a life without any warm hands embracing you, or any shoulders to go cry upon.

This beast wants you to only feel those cold fingertips tracing your soul, getting close to you, yet leaving in the end; abandoning you, once more, for this beast is something you should be afraid off because you have no power over it. Loneliness sounds like the simplest thing in the world to fix: find a friend, reach out to someone who cares. Easier said than done, every time he tries they recoil, unwilling to offer an olive branch of hope to the social leper, and so his anxiety deepens.

There are nights it takes a hold of him. All he can do in those long black hours is find an enclosed place to shake until the tears subside and he can focus on the dawn light, breathe, drink water. It isn't simply a lack of company, though that's part of it for sure, it's a black hole that grows more powerful with every social snub. It threatens to swallow every part of him, bad and good until all that's left is a human-shaped shell too numb to feel the pain anymore.

He could feel it now, though. Emotional pain isn't felt the way a cut or bruise is. This is much different and only you can tell it is there. Sometimes the pain is at the back of your mind like a pulse. Other times it pushes itself forward demanding attention. Cutting your heart and mind in half, stinging with every breath you take just like his was now.

"Ryuu!"

He was already beyond the walls that bordered the village, a dense forest surrounded him one that he cared nothing for as he tried to outrun his fears. Unfortunately, not even he could best his father in speed. Sasuke Uchiha's tall form appears directly in front of Ryuu's line of sight forcing him to pull himself to a stop or risk colliding with the man. He manages to stop a good five feet away from his father who is staring at him with a stern expression on his face.

It caved and gave way to concern as big fat wet tears roll down the child's cheeks. Sasuke took one step forward and watched as Ryuu took one backward, confusing the man. That wasn't like Ryuu. His youngest relished in whatever affection and comfort he could get whether it was from siblings or his parents. To see him pull away like that cut something deep within Sasuke. The two stared at each other in a tensed silence, no bird nor insect dared disturbed such a delicate situation.

The longer he stared the more Ryuu's pain and sadness slowly turned into something worse. Burning rage hissed through his body like deathly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence. It was like a volcano erupting; fury sweeping off him like ferocious waves. The wrath consumed, engulfing his moralities and destroying the boundaries of loyalty and love. This was all his fault!

"You sent her away. She was my friend and you made her leave the village." He started out whining like an injured animal. "She was my only friend!" He roars as his rage grows. He doesn't care about the way his father's eye widens in shock at his tone. He wants Sasuke to understand that what he did has hurt him.

It takes Sasuke a couple of seconds to comprehend out what Ryuu is talking about. The little girl, Tsubaki, left the village with Garra and his sons five days before Ryuu was released from the hospital. Why did it matter so much to Ryuu? "She had to leave." He spoke in the same no-nonsense tone he used on Hinata only hours ago. Hanabi has been upset since Tsubaki left, regrettably for him when Hanabi was upset Hinata was upset and on this particular matter, there wasn't much he could do to appease his wife considering that it was a Kage matter.

"You're a liar! She didn't have to leave. Tsubaki didn't want to leave. We were friends, she wouldn't have wanted to leave."

"You'll make new friends."

That was possibly the most unsentimental things anyone could have said right now. In Ryuu's case, it was his breaking point. His knuckles went white from clenching his fist too hard, and gritted teeth from the effort to remain silent, his hunched form exuded an animosity that was like acid - burning, slicing, potent.

"I won't. I'll never make any more friends! They all hate me. They're afraid of me. All of them tell me I'll grow up to be just like the rest of the Uchiha men. A murder, traitor, killer, but I'll be the worst of them all. It all because of these stupid eyes. I hate them." Ryuu spat out each word with pure venom.

The sky grew darker and foreboding overhead. The clouds were a black grey, ominous and threatening, they were storm clouds and nothing like the fluffy white cotton-balls of the morning. It drew Sasuke's attention as his concern turned into worry. It wasn't supposed to storm today. Streaks of pure white crackled against a stormy blanket of grey, shrouding hot silver clouds with its blinding incandescence, emanating the might of an imminent tempest.

The wind picked up, howling, crying, warning, baying like a wolf into the night. The first crack of lightning rended the air and within seconds like a serpent of brilliant light sent to bite the earth, the sky shook with the cry of the thunder that reverberated overhead, but there was no rainfall, not even a drop. His eyes were pulled back to his son as flashes of light and the creaking of lighting sounded too close.

They coiled up and down his body like an electrical surge. Jagged bolts of lightning traveled from the top to the bottom of his body before being disbursing into the earth. It wasn't normal natural lightning, nothing like Sasuke's light blue. It was violent and destructive but beautiful and purple in color. He's never seen lightning like this. He couldn't think right now, not soundly. There was too much going on.

The lightning, the lack of rain, the sudden change in weather. It meant nothing to Ryuu. All he cared about was the fact that he didn't even get to say goodbye. He did not know her whereabouts or if she'd be back. He couldn't even say goodbye. It wasn't fair! Itwasn'tfairitwasn'tfairitwasn'tfair!

He couldn't see the blood falling from his eye and did not feel the explosive pain that came with the strain being placed on the pathway behind his right eye. He wants someone to hurt, to feel this pain he's felt. Adrenaline coursed through his system as his father closed the distance between and reached to grab his shoulder. His limbs were moving on their own. He was disconnected from everything but the ever-present sound of his drumming heart and his anguish.

The pain has an unpleasant warmth to it. Sasuke felt his hand being batted away with a careless backhand from Ryuu's. An open palm slams, with an unnatural amount of force for someone so small, directly into the older Uchiha's abdomen. He ends up seventeen feet from where he had been standing, sprawled on his back in the grass. Pain sears through Sasuke's abdomen better than a branding iron, his mind conceding to the torment, unable to bring a thought to completion.

It was purely thanks to years of training that got his body moving without his brain reasoning. Sasuke throws his legs up, moving into a backward handstand, and pushing off the earth with his hands to avoid a strike that would have gone right through his chest. He lands in a tree, his crimson eye staring down at the enormous crater with electricity sparking around it. Five feet down and in the center, Ryuu pulls his hand out of ground bloody and grotesque.

The pain in his abdomen isn't sharp like a needlepoint or a knife, it burns around Sasuke's innards stronger than boiling water. Everything feels scolded and, moving or not, he's in more pain than he could have ever imagined was possible. It slows him down immensely, Sasuke is just barely to draw Kusanagi and use the black scabbard to block the lightning channeled gentle fist aimed at his chest. The burning pain bites into his shoulder instead, forcing Sasuke to put distance between them.

With Sasuke constantly on the defense and Ryuu on the offense, neither one noticed how the storm in the sky worsened. In one, two, three seconds, the loud boom of the thunder struck. The intensity and the frequency increased. The lightning struck. One, two, and the boom came. Nearer. The lightning forked dreadfully close to the pair, and One, and then boom. It finally made its presence known as it struck the tree the two fought in.

One body flew backward, colliding with the trunk of a tree before collapsing onto the ground, unmoving. The second one was slammed to the forest floor, shattering the earth below with the impact. Sasuke was conscious enough to hear their voices screaming their names.

"Sasuke!"

"Ryuu-kun!"

They sounded so desperate and broken, the man's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he was out before the medical-nin could reach them.

* * *

Her small, pale yet elegant fingers gently brush away the long strains of dark hair that conceal the handsome face from her eyes. Hinata lips pulled themselves into a half smile as her lavender optics slowly begin to fill with water that refuses to fall. It's been a little while since she just been able to watch her husband sleep. He looked so at peace right and it made her heart clench with pain. Sasuke Uchiha. It was almost funny to think about this now, but before now he's never been someone Hinata has ever thought she'd end up with, ever.

Even as kids, Sasuke's never been someone who has caught her attention. Sure, she had felt bad for him when he had lost his entire clan yet even then he hadn't made it exactly easy for others to understand or console him. And yes, he was extremely nice to look at but he always had this aura that pushed people away and being as shy and timid as she had been there hadn't been much of a way to get to know him.

Besides, at that age, Naruto had always been her focus. He was a bright sun who eclipsed everyone else in her younger years. He had been who she had wanted to be like, she had admired his strong will and determination. Somewhere along the way that admiration had turned into something stronger, she'd spend days, years believing that she was in love with Naruto Uzumaki. She guesses in a way she loved Naruto and still loves him to this day, however, loving him and being in love with him are two different things.

She only came to realize that after Sasuke Uchiha returned to the Village to attend Naruto and Sakura's wedding. She could still vividly recall being so jubilant for the couple and at the same time so overwhelmingly dejected. After the vows were said, the kiss was done, and the cake was cut. She had left the wedding to find a quiet place to just cry. She had just wanted to let it all out and be done with it. She had not expected to run into the lone Uchiha.

Now that she thought about it she still wasn't sure why he had been out there. It was almost as if he had been waiting for her...that was silly, though. He hadn't been waiting for her he had been staring up at the sky. It was a beautiful night with all the stars dotting the sky and the moon washing everything in a gentle white glow. He looked at her, it had been no longer than a second, and she saw everything.

The joy, the sorrow, the pain, the regret, and above all the loneliness. Even though they hadn't shared a word with each other it was that night she met the man underneath the mask of an Uchiha. After that she found herself finding the smallest of excuses to go and visit Sasuke. At first, it was to make sure he was eating properly and to selfishly distract herself from Naruto and Sakura.

Then it turned into making sure that he wasn't lonely(even though he said he wasn't) and helping him clean up the Uchiha Compound. After spotting his training, she practically begged for him to train her. By then she would say they had a rather beautiful friendship, close enough that she became the sole reason he remained in the village at all, or so he said. Everything spiraled out of control when he told her that. She began seeing Sasuke in a new light.

She remembered crying so much the day he asked her to marry him. It had been one of the happiest moments in her life, even more so when Akira, Sasunata, Himawari, and Ryuu make their appearances. The material love she has for her children is the ordinary kind. It is no more than any mother she knows and respect. It is the kind of love that would move heaven and earth for her children if she had the power.

It is the kind of love that says: I would give my life for my children anytime, any place. It is the kind of love that would take on anyone, anyplace, anytime if they threaten the well-being of her children. It was this love that made her want to become stronger, she increased her training while juggling the responsibilities of a wife and mother. She took on the role of both a medical-nin for the hospital and a close friend to Sakura Uzumaki.

She was so much more today then she's ever been. She was Hinata Uchiha, the Lioness and Lady of the Uchiha clan. She was a respectable medical-nin who was personally trained by Sakura Uzumaki herself. She felt so accomplished, but there were days like today where it felt like everything good in her life was falling apart and she didn't know how to hold it up anymore.

"We did everything we could to help him. But I'm afraid we'll have to remove his eye."

There they were again, flooding her eyes and impairing her vision. Those tears crease her cheek like a lover's touch, painful and unstoppable. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly to her unconscious husband. "I'm so so sorry. They have to remove Ryuu-kun's Sharingan and I don't know what to do, Sasuke. Please tell me what to do." Her voice wobbled as her despair bled through her words. She felt so helpless and lost.

There was nothing that could ever be done to make them love Ryuu less, but the fact that he lost his eye was going to be a devastating blow to the entire clan. She was terrified of what it would do to Saskue. The man felt deeper and stronger than he let on, this was going to hurt him so much. And Ryuu, her poor poor baby. Why?

"Hinata, Himawari, Akira, and Sasunata are waiting in the reception area." Sakura's voice drifted into the room as the pink haired kunoichi stepped inside. "Akira is trying to keep them calm, but Himawari is very upset and Sasunata..."

Hinata swiftly wiped away her tears using her sleeve as she got up from the chair she was sitting in. Sasunata had a horrible temper, she was very good at schooling her emotions acting aloof but when things boiled over she exploded in the worst ways. She bent down and whisper something in Sasuke's ear before giving Sakura a tentative smile and swiftly leaving the room to tend to the rest of her children.

* * *

As soon as the door shut itself, Sakura narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "You put your wife in a genjutsu?!" She snapped, both enraged and annoyed at the same time. The genjtsu broke with her words, the Sasuke in bed vanished revealing the real one standing off in the corner. The Uchiha paid no mind to her words as he finished strapping his sword to his person. "Where do you think you're going?

"How long can you keep Ryuu's pathways from drying out?" He had a nonchalant tone, uncaring and cold. His walls were up which meant he was in more pain than he was letting on. It's been a while since she's seen him like this. The last time was when Naruto...

"Thirty-six hours and that's pushing it. Any longer and we'll damage his brain." Without the right eye connected with his pathways, the chakra would stop flowing there and the pathways will eventually dry up and become useless. Sakura could keep them active and flow for a certain amount of time, but if she pushed it she could further damage the boy's body.

"That's more than enough time," Sasuke responded while walking towards the doorway. Sakura moved to block her former teammate from leaving the room.

"I don't know what you think you're doing, but you need to stop." Her green eyes blazed with fiery determination. At one point in her life that 'look' Sasuke gave her would have had her standing down and allowing him to walk past her. She wasn't an infatuated genin anymore. She certainly wasn't going to let him walk out of here in one of his 'moods'. She had no clue what the hell he was going to do now. "You died, Sasuke. Ten times you flatlined while on the table." Her eyes softened as they fell towards the ground. "If we hadn't gotten you back I don't- OW!"

Both her hands shot up and pressed against her forehead as she shot a glare in the Uchiha's direction. He just flicked her on the forehead. He knew how sensitive she was about that. He had that small smile on his lips that at one time made her heart skip a beat, now it just gave her a sense of reassurance.

"Obito and Itachi. I met them in a dream."

"Huh?"

"Itachi told me that Ryuu was going to lose an eye." He gritted his teeth as he explained. "Obito told me how to fix it without giving up mine. As disturbing as it is he apparently collected the eyes of our murdered clan member. If I return with it you can fix him?"

"I...yes but Sasuke you're-"

"I will fix this, Sakura. I don't care what it takes. I will do whatever it takes to protect them." The loss of Ryuu's eye, his Kekki Genkai, his Dōjutsu will scar the boy beyond repair. This wasn't like Sasuke losing his arm, this went far beyond that. The fact that he felt responsible for what happened also affected his choice. The was a long pause and silence as the two simply stared into the eyes of the other.

"His chakra, the lightning, it caused some real damage to your body. There are small jolts of electricity still circling through your body, your muscles might spasm a bit as well. This will with that, take only one." The kunoichi tossed him a small jar full of reddish blue pills. "The burns in your abdomen and shoulder will cause some intense and possibly crippling pain. I already gave you some pain medicine so it should keep you going for another hour or two. Take two of these if it gets too much, no more than two or you'll have some serious side effects." She finished, tossing him another jar filled with colorful pills and stepped to the side.

The Uchiha thanked her wordlessly with a nod of his head while pocketing his medication. He was gone without even a goodbye by the next heartbeat leaving Sakura hoping she did the right thing.

"I'll follow him." The new voice had her jumping while turning to face the shinobi she hadn't even noticed was in the room. He was a handful of inches taller than her, bright, long, pink hair pulled back into a high ponytail. He wore the gear and mask of the ANBU medical member. Pulling off the mask, the face and eyes that stared back at her were identical to her own although more masculine and handsome. The lines that resembled whiskers were purely from his father side of the family. On his forehead sat the rhombus-like shaped strength of a 100 seal.

"Hana! You're back." The woman darted forward to engulf her eldest son in a bone-crushing hug...literally. It's been a while since she's last seen him, she honestly hadn't expected him to make the ANBU at his age. He was a slightly lazy and unenthusiastic shinobi who ate as much ramen as his father. On top of that, he was quite the flirt and had no problem wooing any gender. The smooth talker had a bit of a sharp tongue but clearly made a pretty decent ninja considering his rank and ability to master the Strength of a Hundred Seal.

"Kaasan, I can't breath." The seventeen-year-old wheezed and took in a lungful of air once he was released. Despite his flaws, the Uzumaki made an excellent brother, both his younger brother and sister, Boruto and Kushina, looked up to him. He could be a sweetheart and genuinely cared about the world and those within it. He was a little overly trusting and enjoyed showing affection by giving the oddest of nicknames.

Hana had been debating on leaving the ninja life behind up until about two years ago when Naruto returned home in a coma. Sakura started noticing the change in her son after that. He stated while Naruto was in a coma: "I'll make sure the peace he's strived to build doesn't go to shit while the old man's down." To her, it seemed that Hana was growing into a man his father would most certainly be proud of.

"I swung by the house and made sure Burrito and Kuku were fed. I didn't feed them ramen." He added when his mother frowned at him. She was touchy about feeding all her children ramen on a daily basis. It wasn't exactly healthy. "Kuku was sleeping when I left and Burrito was training again." The nicknames he gave his younger siblings never ceased to amaze her, particularly Boruto's who loathed that nickname.

"I'll go with the Hokage," Hana stated while looking down at his mother. "I'll make sure he comes back alright." He reassured her while cutting to the chase. Unless he was flirting he wasn't one for small talk. "The wrinkles on your forehead are starting to show so it's the least I can do." He added, avoiding a fist that could have knocked him senseless and through several floors had he been a bit slower. He was gone before the woman could try and hit him again, laughing all the while.

"That brat!" Sakura shook her head as an affectionate smile sat on her lips. The smile turned back into a frown as she opens the door and exits the room to the hallway. She wasn't sure what she should tell Hinata, Sakura had been in a bad place when Sasuke had brought Naruto in. She spent days without sleep researching and looking for an answer to the coma. She was the best medical-nin of her generation and the next, Sakura had been sure that if Lady Tsunade had been around she'd know how to heal Naruto.

That thought consumed and frustrated her beyond the wildest imagination. She ignored her worked, her children, and devoted her life to curing her husband's condition. Naruto would have done the same for her, she knew it. Her ignorance nearly cost her the children and her job. If it wasn't for Hinata who had temporally taken up the position of Head Medical-nin for the hospital and juggled the responsibility of caring for both her own children and Sakura's, the kunoichi was certain that she'd still be searching for an answer to Naruto's coma now.

Hinata had lent her ear when she needed to vent, had consoling words when she needed to cry, and ultimate was the one who made her see the bigger picture, that Sakura couldn't keep being so selfish she had patients and children who needed her. Sakura was thankful for that and owed Hinata more than words could express. She was glad that she had Hinata as a friend. How was she suppose to tell Hinata that she led her injured husband go off on some godforsaken mission, having no clue where he was going nor when he was coming back.

Abruptly, the earth begins to shake.

At first no-one moves, their brains unable to make sense of the input from their ears and feet. The ground is moving and the noise is like extended thunder only worse because the vibrations are coming from below. Then like a switch has been flicked everyone moves for safety, all of them in the autopilot mode that all-consuming fear creates. The walls scream and the lights flicker rapidly before going out altogether. Earthquake?

It goes as it comes, suddenly and with no explanation. Sakura finding her balance quickly as the hospital staff and civilians turn their eyes to her, like a friend herd of deer waiting for the direction they expect her to expect her to have the answer. Unfortunately for them, Sakura's brain is elsewhere. This is one thought that is funneling through her head in rapid repetition. Naruto.

She's gone well before any questions can be asked of her. With chakra laced speed, she reaches the lowest level of the hospital in record time. That earthquake that shook the hospital hadn't been an earthquake at all, it was the barrier to Naruto's room breaking. Sakura is no longer thinking logically as she steps through the doorframe and inside.

The room is unrecognizable, the walls are shattered and caved in, large pieces of the ceiling litter the floor, water flooding in where pipes have been broken. It's a shock that the foundation is still standing. She needed to evacuate the hospital. If this room fell the entire building was coming to come down with it.

First things first, "Naruto!" Her voice echoed loudly in the large room, bouncing off wall after wall. She keeps calling his name again and again while searching the ruin area. Sakura pays no mind to the groaning of the ceiling and few pieces of rubble that fall from above. It didn't matter right now. All that matter was him.

"Sakura?" It's deep and filled with hesitation, yet it was a voice she knew well. She finds him seated on the ground, hands over his head like he's pain and back slightly hunched forwards. The striking blue eyes that meet her tearful green ones causes her heart to stop beating for a moment.

"Naruto." Her arms are around his neck as she embraces him, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't say how long she stood there hugging him while repeating his name. She finally steps back when she noticed he wasn't hugging her back. When she gazes down at his face she can see the confusion and disorientation in his expression. He looks so lost.

"Sakura, I can't- he's he's gone." Naruto's chest is heaving up and down like he could not get enough air. "He's gone. Kurama's gone. I can't feel him anymore!"

* * *

 **Was going to introduce Sloth in this chapter, but yeah. I kind of liked this chapter and at the same time I could have done better. I can't remember if I said this but I changed Sarada's name to Sasunate, just made her an oc. Hana was a sudden spurt of muse I decided to add into the story. I like him, he amuses me. I couldn't think of a good name for a daughter between Naruto and Sakura so just named her after Naruto's mother because I like her name. I thought it was cute.**

 **Next chapter is a big time skip about three or four years, super excited for that. I'll be bringing in some more new character/ocs.**

 **I changed the title because I thought of something more fitting.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading it(even though it's super late). Appreciate any reviews, follows and favorites.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Three Years Later**

"Get up!"

"..."

"I need food, get up and feed me, you lazy dunce."

"..."

"I swear if you do not get up and get me food I'll be forced to take drastic measures."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"That's it! I'll be urinating in your sock drawer. And when you find chocolates on the table I would caution against eating because they won't be chocolates, they'll be my shi-MRRROW!"

A full grown pure black cat was snatched off the chest of the man lying in his bed. Kakashi Hatake held the feline by his scruff as the tom pinned his ears back and hissed at him.

"Must you do this every morning?" The elite shinobi asked, watching the cat's tail lashed back and forth.

"If fed me like you're supposed to I wouldn't have to wake you like this." The deep, masculine voice comes out of the moving maw. "Now put me down, I just cleaned my coat and now I'll have to do it again."

Dropping the cat, Kakashi pushed himself out of bed and worked on getting dress as his annoying feline cleaned himself while chatting.

"You know, I would get myself food but I don't have opposable thumbs." As the cat went on about his lack of working thumbs, Kakashi recalled his biggest error in judgment, the day he picked up this pest a year pr so ago. He had met the cat during a solo mission, the tom had been barely alive bleeding out on the side of the road. He took the cat home, nursed him back to health, and found out that he could talk and was named Shion Neko.

At first, he had thought the cat was some wayward summoning stuck here. But that idea was dashed, the amount of chakra in the cat's body was enormous Kakashi suspected on par with a jonin or ANBU. The cat has proven to be even faster them him and Sasuke, and to top it all off, he had lightning release. If the cat was a summoning he was a pretty damn powerful one. Shion Neko was a living mystery which is the only reason Kakashi put up with walking, taking, irritation.

"If you're giving me tuna again, as disgusting as it is, I'll stomach it so long as you make sure it's heat. If it too hot I'll burn my tongue, but if it's too cold I refuse to eat it. You know how delicate my stomach is... Are you listening to me?"

Kakashi tuned out the feline as he finished dressing in his standard jonin gear. Shion was quick to follow after him as he left his room and headed to the kitchen. The cat was never more than a tail length behind him. It took almost half an hour and seven cans of wasted tuna, before Kakashi gave up on appeasing the cat. The two left his home both in touchy moods. Shion, who usually rode on his shoulder, flickered out of sight as soon as he stepped paw outside.

Kakashi was grateful for the silence as he leaped rooftop to rooftop to reach his next destination. He was scheduled at the Third Training Ground over an hour ago. His excuses these days often revolved around Shion. By the time he reached the training ground he found Shion was already there, lounging on the small shoulders of a young nine-year-old. The boy hadn't bothered with even greeting him, his head, as expected, was buried within a book. It was a book that was confiscated in the next heartbeat as Kakashi snatches it away. He's been looking for that volume of Icha Icha Paradise.

"Would you stop giving him these!" His single eye bore a hole into Shion's as the cat merely smirked at him.

"He wanted to know what you're reading. I'm just indulging the boy." The cat's chest rumbles with a purr as pale fingers comb through the dark fur along his spine.

"I've already read that one three times, Sensei. You should bring a new one." The young Uchiha has a smile on his face that refuses to reach his eyes. In the past three years, his hair had lengthened to a point where he could pull it into a ponytail that reached past his shoulder blades, his bangs fell halfway down his cheek with the left obscuring his lighter left eye and the right being held back by a dragon hairclip his sisters had bought him for his eighth birthday.

Ryuu Uchiha, the current prodigy of Uchiha clan, had been assigned to Kakashi as his solo student after an incident last year. The boy was an ideal student, lacking the same arrogance his father had, he made it easy to get along with him, however, his need to read whatever he got his hands on made it difficult for Kakashi to see him as a perfect student. Shion wasn't helping either.

"Kaa-san made you two bento boxes. She said she's concerned about what you eat." Ryuu brushes off the look his Sensei shoots his way and instead pulls out the bento boxes. He hands Kakashi his box as Shion jumped off his shoulder to sniff at the box he lays on the grass.

"Oh! Sushi, your Okaasan is Kami." Shion purrs when Ryuu pulls the lid of the box. The cat devours his meal in large quick bites. The boy chuckles softly at the sight, one dark eye lifting to peer at his teacher who stared at him for a moment longer and then sets aside his box.

"How is your eye?" The change in tone and the serious look in his eye has Ryuu dropping his back down to the cat. Shion had paused in eating to listen for the Uchiha's answer. The boy feels a prick of uncomfortableness at the question and the care. Three years ago he had lost the eye that he was born with, obtaining a different one from his father. Ryuu's hand creeps up to brush his fingers underneath his right eyelid. He still had no idea whose eye this was, his father refused to answer any questions on it.

"It's alright. Sakura-sama says that the chakra pathways have opened up enough that I no longer need to worry about the pain and bleeding so long as I don't overuse it." He commented unhappily. "I have full control over the Sharingan, but I'm still having problems with the Mangekyō Sharingan. I still pass out after five minutes every time I activate it." He states with frustration leaking into is words. His hands drop down to pull the grass underneath him, tearing and shredding the blades between his fingers.

The boy looked so helpless it almost made Kakashi want to tell him the truth, he refrained recalling his promise to Sasuke. Instead, he reaches out a hand and rests it on top of Ryuu's head. "What have I said?"

"That just because I get the hang of most skills and techniques quickly doesn't mean I'll get them all. To believe so is to give into arrogance which turns into ignorance which goes hand in hand with mistakes and flaws which could cost me or those with me their life." He recited while avoiding rolling his eyes. Ryuu hated being called arrogant, it reminded him of Akira.

His brother had made a jonin two years ago and might be taking up a place as an ANBU this year. Sasunata had become a chunin last year with Himawari now a genin. Ryuu often found himself rather jealous of his older siblings these days, of their bliss obviousness. He wished he could be back to the days of his innocents, where all he had to worry about was children picking on him and adults giving him dirty looks. It had been so easy back then.

"Ryuuuuuuuu!" The loud screech hurt his ears and made him stiff. He was to slow in making his escape, thin yet strong arms wrapped around back and neck as a wet kiss landed on his cheek. The boy squirmed while yanking his head back, he could have easily broken out of the embrace but was worried about hurting her. In a last-ditch effort for freedom, he called for help.

"Sensei, make her let go."

"Kushina, you're going to break him." The man replied, not paying much attention to either brat as he got distracted by his book. A girl no older than eleven had her arms wrapped tightly around the uncomfortable ravenette. With sky blue eyes, pinkish red hair in two pigtails, and an enormous smile on her lip it wasn't hard to guess who's kid she was. Kushina Uzumaki ignored the infamous Copycat nin in favor of showering the Uchiha with affection.

It came to an abrupt end when a fist slammed itself into the girl's head. With a squeak, the arms released the boy so she could rub at the lump forming on her skull. The blue eyes filled with unshed tears as Kushina turned to glare at her older brother.

"Quit fawning over him, Kuku. You're coming on too strong anyway. Now he's going to hide from you." Hana pointed out, nodding his head in the direction where Ryuu now hid behind Kakashi. "Sup, Dragon, Gramps, Cat." The cocky Uzumaki greeted the three, ignoring the stern glare he received from Kakashi.

"Hello, Kushina, Hana... and Boruto." Both siblings turned in the direction of the rustling leaves as the blond appeared out of thin air. He had a permanent frown etched on his face as he locked eyes with the single black orb that stared back at him.

"Onii-chan, I thought you said you weren't coming," Kushina spoke up after a somewhat tense silence had fallen. Her older brother didn't bother saying a word, he was gone a second later.

"Well, he still as rude as ever." The black cat yawned, padding over to Ryuu to leap up onto his shoulder once the tom was done eating.

"It's not his fault." Ryuu's soft voice drifted with the light breeze as his eyes never left where Boruto had stood. It seemed no matter how much time passed, Boruto was never going to forgive him. He could not bring himself to be upset with that, Ryuu hadn't even forgiven himself for that death. It was something that would follow him to the grave.

Sensing his declining mood, Kushina was keen to change the subject. "Ryuu." At the sound of the excitement in her voice, the boy leaned a little closer to Kakashi to hide. Kushina took no offense he was so cute! She really wanted to hug him but restrained herself in fear of dealing with a fist from Hana. He hit nearly as hard as their mother. "Good luck."

"Good luck?" He repeated, confusion laced with his words.

"Oh yeah, that's why we came here so freaking early." Hana yawned, reaching up to give his head a scratch. "Good luck on you're jonin exam. We're not allowed to be there, so we'd figure why not wish you luck if we could catch you before you left. Not that you need it, your skills are insane." He mumbled the last part more to himself. It was less that Hana was envious or jealous, unlike his brother, the man was merely stating a fact. Boruto could learn a thing or two from the younger Uchiha, the boy was getting lazy again. Ever since Naruto's returned his brother seemed to think he could slake off again, it was beyond irksome.

"Wait- What?!" The visible eye had widened itself so large that the white of his eye could be seen. Ryuu stepped out from behind his sensei to stare up at the tall shinobi. "What are they talking about, Sensei?" He had no clue about any jonin exam. Kakashi, acting like he hadn't heard him, continued to read his book. A minor chill went down his back when that eye changed into that bloody crimson color. After what was obviously an awkward pause, Ryuu's eye returned to that neutral black.

"If you don't tell me right now, I'll tell my Kaasan that you let me read that," Ryuu warned, pointing to that book. That unquestionably got Kakashi's notice. As Hinata Hyuga, the woman had been much of a kunoichi. Now as an Uchiha with years training under Sasuke, the woman was quite the lethal weapon, enough so to make Kakashi just a little nervous the same way Ryuu made him a little nervous. The Lioness wasn't one to mess around when it came to her children.

"This was decided a year ago, well before you made up your mind." The Hataka already knew this was going to be an argument. As if sensing the tension in between them, Hana said his goodbye, dragging his kid sister behind him as they departed.

"I told you, I no longer want to be an active shinobi. There is no point in me taking any exams. Otousan told me that you're here to help me with my eyes nothing more. I don't want to be a ninja." He had lost all emotion in his voice, becoming as stone cold as his father could be.

"It was your Otou-sama who made this decision. Not as your Otou-sama, but as the Hokage. If you'd like you can take this up with him." Kakashi shut his book and paid full attention to the little Uchiha whose frustration could be seen with the rise of his chakra signature. It was strong, just slightly below his own in power. The village feared him, besides the select few, the rest fear the little boy. As his small hands clenched together into fists, he cast his eyes on his feet while slowly calming himself down.

"Fine, let's go." Ryuu sighed in defeat. His father still remained as the Kage of Konoha. It was deemed both by Sakura and the council that Naruto needed some time before reclaiming his place. A part of him was gone, an important part of himself, he needed some time. Everything in his life has suddenly unraveled itself, Ryuu could relate. The two shinobi left the training ground with their cat on their heel.

* * *

Sakura's light green eyes bore into the blonde blue-eyed man who sat beside her. Her husband turned his head and stared at her for a second as if lost in thought. Abruptly, he was brought back to reality and cast her a smile. It wasn't one of those sweet, joyful, smiles that resembled the morning sun. It was forced and tight, these days he seemed so far gone like he was in a different world.

Naruto hadn't taken all the years he's lost well. But what hurt him the most was the loss of Kurama and the rampage of the tailed beasts. He had lots of coping to do which is why Sasuke continued as the Kage of Konoha. Sakura had no idea if the old Naruto would ever return to them. For right now, however, she was just grateful that he was back.

The couple turned their heads to the right as they picked up the rising chakra signature a handful of yards away from them. Sasuke and Hinata were having some sort of staring match...or maybe it was more of a glaring one? Sakura couldn't tell from where she was at. Sasuke had his arms crossed over his chest and Hinata had her hands on her hips, neither one moved an inch. It wasn't until Hinata activated her Byakugan did Sasuke give up.

The woman did cook all his meals, clean their home, did his laundry, was his personal healer, and took care of their children majority of the time. In Sasuke's mind it made sense to not piss her off if possible. That and some things just weren't worth it.

It was still a little astonishing to see Sasuke bend to Hinata's wishes without a word. It had been a couple of months after marrying Naruto, the first time Sakura noticed the influence Hinata had on Saskue. All of the Konoha Eleven had gathered for a training session, it had been forever since all of them had come together. But Kiba being Kiba, of course, had to start a fight with Sasuke who in turn broke the Inuzuka's hand.

Hinata had not been happy with either of them. After threating to not speak to either of them for the rest of the day, both men had actually shaken hands and apologized to each other. Sakura had been impressed, Kiba was known for his stubbornness and she's never heard Sasuke apologize before and really mean it. The two still weren't anything near friends, but at least they were civil now.

Sasuke got a kiss on a cheek from his smug wife who waved to Sakura and Naruto before heading off to oversee the hospital while Sakura was away. Sasuke walked over to his teammates, ignoring the glint in Naruto's blue eyes.

"What's wrong with you, Teme? You in the doghouse?" Naruto's smile was back full-fledged as he starts off with annoying his best friend.

"Shut up, Dobe," Sasuke grunted back with his infamous glare.

Sakura watched the two with a bright grin on her face, this felt normal again. She missed this and them. "A happy wife is a happy life." She quoted, Sasuke narrowed his eye but didn't disagree and Naruto wasn't stupid enough to say anything against her. It was true.

"She's upset because I making Ryuu take the exam even though he's seemed to have made up his mind about being a ninja," Sasuke spoke in a somber tone. The years have not been kind to his son, he was growing more distant with every passing day.

"Have you told him about his eye yet?" Naruto asked, losing any playfulness in his voice.

"No, and it will stay that way." There was a warning edge in Sasuke's voice that had the blond bristling.

"Sasuke, you can't just-"

"You guys really do fight like a married couple." All heads were drawn to the averaged sized twelve-year-old who walked up to behind the team.

"Father wasn't joking." The redhead's twin walked up behind the first boy and stared up at the adults. It didn't take long for Sasuke and Sakura to remember Garra's twins, but Naruto seemed lost for some time.

"Garra? What the hell! Why are you so small and why are there two of you?" As his best and his wife both let out long sighs, the twins cocked their heads and glowered at the man.

"You're loud-

"Annoying-

"Forgetful-

"Irritating-

"And stupid." The two finished together, looking slightly offended. Yes, the did look a lot like Garra but neither one had those dark rings around their eyes. As amazing as their father was, they were their own person. It got annoying constantly hearing about how much they looked like the Kazekage.

"Why father made you-"

"Our godfather is a mystery to us."

Those words had something clicking in Naruto's brain. He faintly recalled being in Suna when the two were born, Gaara never seemed like much of the fatherly type so it had come as a huge surprise to him when he learned his friend had twins.

"Ginkaku and Kinkaku how many times must I tell you to watch your tongues." The deep baritone and the large hands that landed on their heads made the pair stiffen up. With a great amount of reluctant, both boys managed to mutter an apology to the blond with bowed heads.

As the blond and redhead got reacquainted, Sakura found herself becoming more at ease. She had been so concerned about her husband, even the kids had started to notice that he wasn't as lively as he once was. Seeing him now like this, it gave her hope that everything would get better.

"Where is she?" Sasuke's voice cuts into her thoughts as the Hokage got down to business.

"She went ahead to Akagahara." Garra's reply was short as his eyes drifted down to his children who were looking at the ground.

"How is your village doing?" Sakura wondered, recalling how worried Naruto had been when learning Suna had been attacked by a Tailed Beast.

With a jerk of his head, both his sons were gone in a swirl of sand. They seemed happy to be sent off. "It's coming along, Yumi is actually helping rebuild instead of destroying." He was rather pleased with his wife's assistance. On a normal day, she was the one causing the mess.

"The men that invaded."

"All died in a similar manner as the one you had caught, with the difference being that the body turned to liquid after death. They had nothing to identify who and where they belong or come from." Garra had already stated this in the report however it never hurt to go over it again. Last year a strange group of forces invaded Suna, they came in the dead of night and without any chakra, no one had detected their presence until they were already in the village.

Their target had seemed to have been focused on the girl, but Garra had yet to understand why and what they wanted with her. It had turned out that the attack had been a distraction for the arrival of someone much worse, an individual cloaked in white they called Lord Sloth. With him, he brought the one-tailed beast, Shukaku. Even with all his resources, Garra could only do so much. A lot more people would have died and a larger portion of the village destroyed if not for the Nine-Tails.

The battle had been brief with Kurama driving off Shukaku, with some wounded and no casualties it had been a win in Suna's eyes. The little Hyūga slept for a week with a two day fever before it broke. The act of heroism had come at a cost, words spread fast of the Nine-Tails being in Suna. With Naruto still in Konoha, rumors spread that he no longer held the Tail Beast.

With the increasing problems going on across the Shinobi World, and the one man who had solved them before, people simply expected Naruto to fix everything again, to keep the peace. Now that it was known he no longer held Kurama, the only tail beast who had chosen to remained sealed, the remaining three Kages have grown concerned. A meeting has been called, a joining of all five kages in Konoha.

"The remaining Kages will be arriving over the next few days," Sasuke informed Garra. "I would suggest resting up until then." Sasuke dismissed himself with those words and walked off. Garra watched him leave, tensing when an arm hooked over his shoulder drawing him closer to the grinning blue-eyed idiot.

"You and I have a lot of catching up to do over ramen," Naruto stated happily before turning his eyes to his pink haired wife.

"I'll pass, I've got to head to Akagahara to oversee our potential jonin." Sakura gave a wave to both men before taking off herself. She couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at her smiling husband as he dragged the Kazekage off with him. Yes, hopefully in time everything would turn out alright. Just deal with one matter at a time.

* * *

Ryuu glanced around at the place, Akagahara. He knew bits and pieces of this place from his father's stories about his genin years but never would have thought he'd be coming here himself. "This is where I'm supposed to do the exam? Isn't this for up and coming chunin?" He asked, feeling a little edgy as he tossed his question over his shoulder at his mentor.

"It's been upgraded," Kakashi assured him. "There's a statue you'll be needing to retrieve, all you have to do is bring it out and show it to me and you'll be promoted." He explained like it was the simplest thing in the world, clearly not tell him everything.

"What's the catch?" Ryuu asked, feeling like he was being fooled here.

"Well, there is another chunin taking this exam as well. As we speak she's probably already made it to the statue's location. If she brings it here before you, you _lose_." Kakashi made sure to emphasize the fact that boy would lose. Ryuu wasn't all that competitive, but he did hold a great amount of pride in his family and his name.

The thought of losing and bringing any type of shame to the Uchiha name struck a cord inside him. He wouldn't allow it. He really had no interest in being a ninja anymore, but losing also wasn't an option. He was gone in the next heartbeat. The black cat on Kakashi's shoulders watched the retreating figure with large round eyes.

"He already left?" Sakura appeared moments after Ryuu's departure landing a few feet from her former Sensei. Kakashi didn't bother lifting his head from his book yet gave a nod of his head in confirmation. "Hello, Shion." Sakura smiled at the purring cat who jumped on her shoulder from Kakashi's.

"Sakura." The cat yawned, enjoying the feeling of fingers running through his fur.

"Did you tell him about the council?" The medic lowered her voice a little as if sharing some secret. In a way, it was a secret from Ryuu.

"If Sasuke doesn't want him to know it's not my place to inform him." Kakashi's answer was almost textbook like, which spoke loudly of how much he disliked hiding anything from Ryuu. The boy merely assumed that Sasuke was going to ignore his wish of leaving the life of the Shinobi behind when in truth it was the Council who wouldn't allow it. Ryuu was a prodigy among that the first to carry both Byukugan and the Sharingan, he was too valuable to just leave alone.

If it were up to Sasuke, he'd have no problem letting the boy be whatever he wanted to be. Sure, he might be a little disappointed yet relieved at the same time if Ryuu no longer wanted to be in the field. He would never love his son or any of his child any less should they wish to walk a different path instead of a ninja.

"Hmmm, who are you two?" Both Sakura and Kakashi looked to Shion who was looking behind Sakura as two redheads walked up behind her.

"Gin and Kin, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked the boys mildly concerned about Garra knowing they were here.

"We're not going to get you in trouble."

"We wander off all the time, Father is used to it." One speaks and the other continues.

"We just wanted to make sure Tsubaki-imouto got here alright."

"Ghost normally follows her around everywhere, but that doesn't help us much."

As Sakura thought how adorable the twins were, a touch of confusion burned in the back of her mind: Who was Ghost? She would have asked if they hadn't picked up that massive spike in chakra. Kakashi already moved ahead to observe the trial with Shion behind him. Sakura moved to follow, glancing over her shoulder at the twins before beckoning them to follow her. If the two wanted to watch she didn't think it would cause any problems.

* * *

Ryuu ducked underneath a swipe that would have cut open his throat, he sprang up and put distance between him and the marionette in his path. This felt natural, fighting. He didn't want to admit it but he's missed it. In the last six months, the nightmares that haunted his mind were so intense it was hard to discern reality from memory. In the last six months, he's given up fighting, training, being a shinobi, until now he hadn't realized how much he missed this.

It was almost too easy, two explosive kunai took care of the puppet and he carried on his way. The traps all over the place he had no problem avoiding thanks his eyes, yet what bothered him the most that a large number of them had already been sprung? The kunoichi perhaps.

The Chunin ducked, jumped, and fought his way to the center of Akagahara where a large bed of crimson clovers laid, and at the top, a mini statue sat. The area was empty, his mind began running through a handful of scenarios as he moves towards the statue. It was some type of trap or at least that is what all the signs pointed to, but unfortunately, he wouldn't know what kind until he sprung it. His eyes told him there was no one in this area...his dōjutsu have never failed him before.

He gets within arms reach and pain bites into the fingers of his outstretched hand. His entire body is forced back by a powerful gust of wind that tosses him ten feet from where he had stood. He lands on his back, disoriented, before flipping himself back onto his feet as soon as he feels the eyes on him.

The red petals dance in circles around her, the girl in the red. Her cloak billowed behind her exposing her bare feet. He was expecting someone at least Sasunata's age, but if he guessed by height alone the girl was his age if not younger. She had a hood on that hide her hair, the face was exposed. Beyond her mouth and nose, there was a Suna headband wrapped around her eyes that concealed them, blind? There was a faint sense of familiarity that came and went like a breeze.

Ryuu shifts his stance while drawing a kunai from his pouch. His stance is firm but he can feel the tremors running through his hands. Damn it! Even after all this time... I still can't hold this thing without shaking! He tightens his grip on the kunai to the point where his hand was turning chalky and the ring of the kunai would be imprinted on his palm.

"I'm not here to fight you." A soft and breathy soprano, her voice made him want to relax and release the tension in his stiff muscles. "Don't touch it yet I-"

"That's not what my Sensei told me." He interrupts while raising his right hand to glance at the pointer and middle finger, blood the same color as the cherry petals seeped out of the shallow slices in the tip of his finger. Tch-ing the boy performs a single hand sign and draws in a lungful of air. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu" His cheeks puff up as he breaths forth a huge dragon made of fire.

Her hands were flipping through hand signs faster than the necked eye could comprehend. His Sharingan caught it, a Wind style, words swallowed up by the wind. The swirling vortex of cherry blossom picked up speed, spinning faster and faster creating a barrier of air around her. As the fiery dragon collides with the blossoms it turns into a spinning tornado of flames when the petals are set ablaze. It does nothing to distract him, his full attention is on the girl in the center who vanishes seconds later.

She over his head, one leg raised to slam her heel into his skull. She quick, he's quicker. Blocking the attack with a forearm, he reaches over with his free arm and grabs a thin ankle and pulls. She's light and with his chakra already enhancing his speed and strength, he's careful as he tosses her away from him. She twists in the air so that her feet connect with the rocky wall that surrounds them, she's unable to soften the impacts and shatters the rock causing the chunks to crumble as she kicks off the wall to return to the ground.

Ryuu's uses the time it takes for her to recover and closes the distances between himself and the statue. He swipes it off its pedestal and gets ready to move but finds something going on behind him. He's barely had time acknowledge what's going let alone move. A puppet, it's different from the others ones, three-eyed and four armed. The torso is opening—

"MOVE!" Ryuu's balance is thrown off as he's shoved out of the way. Muscle memory has him tuck the statue in against his chest as he maneuvered his body into a one-handed front flip. He watched as eight components are separated. The torso is left behind while the arms, legs, and head are positioned around puppet, each with a sharp blade. At once the eight pieces are slide into slits in the puppet's torso, impaling the girl inside.

His eyes widen to saucers as he spots the scarlet liquid leaking from the slits. Was she— No, she wasn't she couldn't be. Why had she done that? It didn't make sense! Nothing made sense, it had to be some sick joke right? This can't be happening again. As his emotions heightened and his mental state failed, a strong cripple pain stabbed in the back of his right eye. The pupil remained circular as bolts branched off it, the Mangekyō Sharingan began to spin while a tear of crimson fell from the corner of his eye.

It burned, but the pain in his eye was nothing compared anguish and guilt devouring his soul. Why? Why does this always happen to him? "Let her out!" He shouts as black flames at the focal point of his vision catch the puppet's head, Amaterasu.

"Stop! You'll kill her." It's in his head, deep, boom, and overwhelming. Ryuu grimaces as he shuts his right eye, the fire dies away as his dōjutsu deactivates. That voice?!

"Wind Style: Wind Blade Jutsu," The puppet splits apart as a blade of wind cuts it in half. It falls away revealing the girl, her blood that had flowed so freely from wounds that face, neck, torso, legs, and arms. She presses a hand against the wound on her neck, blood slipping through creaks. It is only when she taking her first stumbling step that Ryuu is pulled out of confounding state of mind.

He appears in front of her, taking all her weight when she comes crashing against him. The thick warm blood that soaks into her cloak makes him want to recoil from her, to drop her weight and step as far away from her as he can get. Ryuu does neither instead he helps her sit on the ground, and pull off the tattered and ruin cloak.

His already shaky hands worsen when he sees the ivory hair tinted red as her blood drizzles onto the waist length hair. The green glow of healing chakra incases his hand as he removes hers and presses his own over the stab wound. His other hand moves to her torso where blood is spurting out of her abe. It can't be her. Where are the adults, aren't they suppose to be monitoring them?

"Kakashi-sensei!" There is no calm or collectiveness in his yell. It borderline hysteria. He wanted his mother, he knew she could fix this. He knew basics in medic training, he didn't know what do. Ryuu couldn't take another person dying in his arms.

"What happened?" The Jounin shows up in front of him standing on the girl's other side. The patient and calm voice reassured Ryuu as the older ninja bends down in front of him. His heart goes frantic again when a Kunai is stabbed into the man's cheek. The girl is up, pull him up and behind her as she backs them away from the shinobi.

"It's not him. It's not him." She repeats over and over again like a broken record.

"You fucking bitch! You fucking lucky the master likes you, otherwise, I'd be fucking you up, damn bitch." The words coming out of the man's mouth are in Kakashi's voice but nothing Ryuu would ever hear him say.

"If he hears you're talking to her like that he'll cut your tongue out at the seam." The second voice sounds feminine as a skinny man with glasses and fuschia colored hair shows up. He's carrying a large man on his thin shoulder, something that shouldn't be physically possible for someone his size. The man is dropped to the ground, he groans as his solid weight hits earth and is still.

"Kankurō-Oji." Ryuu slips an arm around the girl as she stumbles forward. Kankurō, that was one of the Sand Siblings? He keeps her close as he feels a surge of chakra that makes the hair stand up on his arm. Violent, murderous, lethal, it was coming from her.

"Sloth I think it's about time we go." The man in Kakashi's voice speaks to the smaller one who is busy cleaning his glasses on his shirt. Fake Kakashi reaches for the knife sticking out of the side of his face, pulling it out without a whimper of pain. The sharp tip comes off inside his cheekbone, he merely tosses the broken kunai behind him.

"Yes, the Healer and the real Sensei are on their way here." The rose haired male answers, pulling some sort of glowing blue stone from his pocket and breaking it half in his hand and drops it on the ground. Like water ripping, a portal opens and the two vanish inside of it. Ryuu can't be concerned about that right now, a menacing aura is coming off the girl in thick red waves of chakra.

"Lady Tsubaki." A white-haired ninja with a burn scar on the left side of his face shows up a few blinks after the two men leave, he's in front of them before Ryuu can comprehend if he was friend or foe. A chakra laced gentle fist is brutally slammed in the girl's sternum. Ryuu has to bend his knee to keep his balance under the sheer force, this guy hit hard enough to make the girl spew blood and knock her out. "Relax, if she stayed conscious that beast would be running rampant."

He doesn't even notice that his eyes are active, the pain that will turn into a severe migrant just behind his right eye is neglected. His legs buckle underneath his weight and the Tsubaki's as the name bounces around in his mind. It's her. It's really her. There is relief with anxiety and too many emotions for him to sort. As the girl weight leans against him, he goes back to healing what wounds he could reach. The blood is coagulating already.

The snow-haired Hyūga male watches him with some wariness but leaves him be in order to check on the sand shinobi. Ryuu's eyes are heavy and by the time Sakura, Kakashi, and the twins show up. He drifts out of consciousness with a rare smile sitting on his lips, feeling more at peace than he has in years.

* * *

 **So there we go chapter seven. Three years go by and Ryuu's life goes to shit so badly he wants to quit being a ninja, Naruto can't function right without Kurama, and Kakashi's got a weird talking cat who threats to defecate when he doesn't feed him...**

 **Anyway, Akagahara is canon if you look at the anime it's not in the manga. Jonin Exams are not canon, which irks me a little be. Genins go through school, Chunins have an exam, and Jonin is simply promoted by the Hokage, it dull. But understandable since not many are promoted to Jonin. I did have a decent Jonin test in my head I was going to put into this story, but it would take too much time and draw away from the plot. So we got this sort-of-not-really-a-jonin exam instead.**

 **I apologize again for taking so long, I had trouble on figure out how I wanted Ryuu and Tsubaki to meet. I was going to go through a big fight scene(which was cool in my head) but felt like I don't have enough Sins in the story so it turned into this. Plus, I feel like I suck when it comes to writing battle scenes.**

 **We'll be meeting the final member of Ryuu's soon to be team(or rather new team) in the next chapter. I am in a debate on who will be training them, Kakashi, Naruto? I don't know.**

 **Thanks for any follows, favorites, and reviews, I really do appreciate them(even if suck at showing how much I do, sorry). I have no beta so sorry for the errors. Hope you guys continue reading, I got some family drama and a Kage meeting coming up.**


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